In Pursuit of Torres
by trinitynix
Summary: Arizona Robbins is a fellow at Seattle Grace Mercy West and a womanizer. One night she meets Harper Avery winner Callie Torres and is immediately intrigued. Alex bets Arizona that she won't be able to bed the straight woman in under a month. Arizona is confident in her abilities, but will love get in the way of a usually conventional one night stand? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Arizona Robbins walked into the bar and looked around for her friends. The doctors of Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital had just received the results for their boards and were out celebrating. She had to check on her post-ops and had told them all to go ahead. A waving hand caught her eye and she turned to see Alex beckoning her over to the table. Sitting with him was Teddy, Cristina, Jackson, Meredith and April; the usual crowd. Arizona smiled at them as she approached and they all yelled her name as she took a seat next to Alex. A shot of Tequila was immediately slammed in front of her and Arizona downed it, shuddering at the after taste. A glass of what looked like Vodka and lemonade was sent her way and she raised it in the air.

"Here's to passing our boards!" she yelled.

The others all raised their glasses, cheering and whistling loudly.

"Here's to handing all the scut to the interns!" Cristina shouted.

More cheers as they clinked their glasses and took a drink. Arizona's had been made extremely strong and she pulled a face as she drank. Alex laughed and patted her on the back.

"No holding back tonight," he yelled into her ear, "we're going to get insanely drunk, and then you can help me find a woman to take home."

Arizona laughed and shook her head.

"Haven't you noticed how they're never interested in sleeping with you until I soften them up for you?" she replied.

"That's why I'm asking for your help," Alex said and sent her a wink. She shook her head in mock shame before taking another sip of her drink. Cristina appeared next to Arizona, forcing a shot into her hand and passing the rest around. Arizona downed it and felt her head starting to spin a little. She wasn't a big drinker and didn't really see the point in it. She knew people drank to give themselves confidence to talk to hot strangers; a department Arizona Robbins did _not _need help in.

But she continued to drink with her friends until she could feel her eye lids starting to droop as the alcohol took a heavy effect on her brain. She smiled lazily at Alex when he asked her to talk to a girl for him, not processing his words properly. Eventually he gave up trying to talk to her and rose from his chair. She watched as he walked confidently over to a hot brunette. Wait, a _really _hot brunette. Arizona felt her mouth open slightly as she took in her features.

She had raven coloured hair that fell over her shoulders, caramel skin that seemed to shine in the dim bar and an ass that would put Beyonce to shame. She wore tight jeans and a loose blue top that fell over her curves in all the right ways. There was _no way _she was going to let Alex have this one.

Arizona stood up, swaying slightly as she realized how drunk she really was. Alcohol clouded her brain and she took a moment focus on not throwing up. She let out a deep breath and walked over to Alex and the gorgeous woman he was talking too. She put an arm around his shoulder and he turned to her, frowning. The woman looked at her and smiled quizzically.

"I'm sorry if my friend is bothering you," Arizona said, "he can't help himself around beautiful woman."

The woman laughed, a dazzling smile that could match Arizona's dimpled one any day.

"He wasn't," she replied, "I know he wants to get laid and I was just telling him that I wasn't interested."

Arizona grinned, popping the dimples that most women melted for. A look of anger crossed Alex's face and he pulled Arizona away, whispering into her ear furiously.

"What the hell are you doing? We were getting along fine and then you come over and ruin it!"

"Obviously not that well since she wants _you_ to go away and _me _to stay."

"She never said she wanted you to stay."

"Give her a few minutes."

Arizona winked at him and proceeded to walk back over to the woman, only to be wrenched back by Alex. She scowled at him and rubbed her shoulder as he hissed at her.

"Come on Robbins, don't be a bitch, that girl's gorgeous. Plus, she's as straight as a nail, I'm sure of it."

"Nails are straight until you bang 'em Karev."

Alex's head dropped in defeat and she smirked, turning and walking back to where the girl was standing alone, holding a glass filled with black liquid.

"Sorry about him. Can I get you a drink?" Arizona asked. The woman shook her head holding up her glass. Arizona silently chastised herself; her drunken brain was making bad decisions. She could usually smooth talk anyone into bed with her, but after the amount of alcohol she had consumed tonight she was starting to doubt her abilities. Arizona backtracked and went back to the basics.

"What's your name?"

The girl opened her mouth to reply when-

"Torres! There you are! Sorry we got held up at the hospital, first rounds on me!"

Arizona spun round looking for the source of the voice and felt her heart sink. Mark Sloan and Addison Montgomery were walking towards them, both smiling at the goddess in front of her. The girl, Torres, smiled and hugged Addison. She sent Arizona an apologetic smile as Mark turned to her.

"What the hell are you looking at Robbins? Beat it."

"I was just talking to my new friend here, before you so rudely interrupted," she replied coolly. Mark looked between them and let out a laugh.

"What, Torres? You're out of luck, she's not gay. Well, at least I think she's not, we've only just met and she doesn't give off the vibe."

"Because us lesbians give off a scent, right?"

"Only you, Robbins. Go away, I don't associate with residents."

"I'm a fellow now."

"Am I supposed to care?"

Arizona scowled and spun on her heel, heading back to the table where Meredith and Cristina were having a chugging competition. She sat next to Alex and he opened his mouth, smirking.

"Oh shut up Karev," she said before he could speak and poured herself a beer from a jug on the table. She stared as Torres laughed loudly at something that stupid Sloan had said. Probably told her the size of his penis, she thought sullenly.

"What's her name?" Alex asked. Arizona shrugged.

"Dunno, last name's Torres though."

"Torres. Sounds familiar."

"It's a common name Alex. Come on let's get more shots, I'm buying."

They walked up to the bar, Arizona watching the girl out of the corner of her eye. God, she was beautiful, and she wasn't just thinking that because she was drunk. She could see a number of patrons glancing her way at this new woman no one had seen before.

Arizona and Alex sat at the bar, drinking until the place began to look empty. They talked and joked until she could barely keep her eyes open. She noticed a certain brunette walk towards the door and jumped out of her seat. Alex shook his head as she ran out the door after Torres.

The girl was waiting just outside, arms crossed against the chill of the evening. Arizona walked up to her and smiled.

"Are you alright? It's not really safe to stand out here alone, especially someone as beautiful as you."

The girls chocolate eyes focused on her blue and she felt her breath hitch.

"I'm fine," she replied, "Just ready to go to bed that's all."

"I can help with that," Arizona replied, winking as the girl tutted in mock disapproval.

"You are an extremely confident woman, Robbins."

"How do you know my name?"

"Mark said it."

"Oh."

"And you would be my type if I were gay, but sorry I'm not interested."

"Give me ten minutes."

Torres laughed and Arizona followed suit. She knew this girl was a lost cause but she liked talking to her anyway. They chatted lightly for a few minutes, Arizona receiving the subtle hint that this was all she was going to get from this gorgeous woman tonight. She couldn't keep the smile off her face; until Mark walked out of the bar and threw an arm around Torres.

"Bad luck Robbins, she's coming home with me tonight."

Arizona gaped as he lead her into a cab across the street. Torres sent her an apologetic smile as she opened the door and Arizona couldn't help herself.

"What's your name?" she called out.

"Callie. What's yo-"But she was cut off as Mark shut the door. She pulled the finger at him as he smirked, climbing into the front seat and slamming the door. The taxi drove away and Arizona watched until the taillights faded away.

_Callie Torres. _She was certain she was going to remember that name.

* * *

"I'm dead. That's the only explanation for this. It was really nice knowing you guys."

Arizona croaked out these words as Teddy and Alex woke slowly. They had staggered home from the bar together, Arizona raving wildly about how much she hated Mark Sloan. They were all roommates, moving in together in order to study for the boards but enjoying each other's company so much that no one wanted to move out. They sat talking in Arizona's bed until all three of them had passed out, resulting in them sleeping in a squished fashion. Alex leant over the side and vomited. The two girls screeched and then covered their ears as their own voices drilled at their headaches.

"Clean it up, Alex! We have that stupid meeting to go to at 3PM and I'm not coming home to a floor covered in sick."

Alex grumbled as Arizona reluctantly climbed out of bed, fetching two aspirin and a big glass of water. Her head was pounding and she could barely remember anything. Except for Callie Torres. There was no forgetting Callie Torres.

The three roommates sat around the house, eating mince on toast and watermelon and watching crappy reality TV until 2.30M came around. They piled into Teddy's SUV and drove in silence to the hospital. None of them were on call today but Chief Webber had said there was a compulsory meeting for all staff to attend in the lecture hall.

They arrived at SGMW and trudged slowly through the doors, nodding as an extremely pale Meredith walked past them clutching Derek's hand as if her life depended on it. They found three seats towards the back of the hall and sat. Alex closed his eyes immediately as the Chief began to speak. Arizona felt her eyes start to droop as he spoke about rules and protocols and other boring things. They had to come in on their day of for this?

"And finally," the Chief said, "I would like to introduce you all to a new member of our staff. We are all very excited about having her here and ask you to make her as welcome as possible. She won the Harper Avery last year for her outstanding work in cartilage research and will be our new Head of Orthopaedics. Please welcome, Doctor Calliope Torres."

Both Arizona and Alex's eyes snapped open as Callie stood up from her seat, waving nervously as her fellow doctors applauded. Alex elbowed her hard and Arizona shoved him back.

"She's mine, Robbins."

"She's not an item Karev, she's fair game."

"She's not gay, she even told you that!"

"Yeah, well, people can change their minds."

"You're dreaming. Why would she go for you when she could have me?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

"You're so arrogant dude. Since you're so sure of yourself, let's make this fun."

Arizona looked at him quizzically as he smirked.

"You think you're such a catch," he continued, "let's have a bet. If you can bed her in under a month you win, if you don't, I win."

Arizona pondered his proposition. A month would be pushing it for a straight girl. She _really _wanted to get to know Callie in both a sexual and non-sexual way, but Alex's cocky grin was stirring the competitive monster inside of her. She narrowed her eyes.

"What do I get when I win?"

"_If _you win, I'll personally take all the kids that come in with bowel obstructions and search through their shit to see if it's passed. No interns."

Arizona laughed, causing a particularly grumpy nurse to turn around and shush her. She covered her mouth but continued to shake silently. They were both Ped's fellows, so she could make sure he was holding his part of the deal.

"But if _I _win," he continued, "you have to set me up with her. Persuade her to go out with me. Deal?"

Arizona stopped laughing and stared at Alex. Setting someone as gorgeous as Callie up with Alex Karev was surely a sin. But she was Arizona Robbins; there was _no way _she was going to lose this bet. Straight girls fell for her all the time. Finally she held out her hand and shook his.

"Let the games begin, loser."


	2. Chapter 2

Arizona tapped her pen against the nurses' station, her eyes unfocused as she gazed down the corridor. She was five hours into a shift that would last God knew how long and things were slow. The interns were covering her pre-ops and post-ops which left her with not much to do until her next surgery. Alex came walking down the corridor, waving his hand in front of her face to draw her attention.

"Anyone home?" he asked. Arizona pulled a face at him which turned into an unrestrained yawn. She groaned as she stretched and turned to face Alex. How they had both managed to get stuck with the graveyard shift she didn't know. She thought all this shit finished once residency was done; apparently not.

"When's your next surgery?" he asked.

"20 minutes. A kid came in an hour ago with a shattered femur and internal bleeding in the abdomen. I was looking forward to having a nap but it looks like I'll be doing a four hour surgery instead."

"Oh, so you're in surgery with To-"

"Carlson, yeah," Arizona interrupted, only half listening to Alex. "I'm stuck in the OR with that dinosaur and his stories about how much of a hero he is in every aspect of life."

A look of confusion flickered over Alex's face before he smiled slightly. He rested his hand on Arizona's shoulder and she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Go sleep," he said. "I'll do the surgery for you. I don't mind Carlson; he has a cool car that I like to talk about with him."

"What? This is my patient, I'll do the surgery I just need some coffee."

"Deflate your ego for two seconds okay? I just had a nap and I'm feeling good. You still have two more surgeries to do today. It's fine, seriously."

Arizona narrowed her eyes and surveyed Alex. He had never offered to take her patients before unless something was in it for him. But he was right, she _was _tired and she _did _have two more surgeries today and the thought of sleep was extremely inviting. She had seen plenty of shattered femurs in her time and it's not like she had bonded with the child at all, he was unconscious when he came in. She stood up straighter and looked Alex in the eye.

"What's in it for you?" she asked.

"I get to see a femur smashed to bits. I like bones, they're cool, I would have gone into Ortho if the Ped's gig hadn't worked out. Now get your head out of your ass and go find somewhere to sleep."

Alex told the nurse closest to them to change the surgeons name on the OR board to his and promptly walked away. Arizona smiled slightly after him. People often interpreted Alex to be a bit of a jerk, making fun of staff and patients alike. But he had a good heart and looked out for his friends when they needed him. The first day of their internship he had tried to flirt with her and she had laughed in his face. He took her laughter as a challenge and set it upon himself to get her into bed, until he found out a few months later she was gay. He managed to get over his initial shock pretty quickly and they had been friends ever since. Someone slammed a folder closed next to her and she was snapped out of her thoughts. She turned to the person, to find Callie opening another folding and filling out the chart. Arizona instantly felt butterflies in her stomach and smiled broadly.

"Hey Callie, uh, Dr Torres!" she said a little too enthusiastically. Callie turned to her and smiled before signing the chart and handing it back to the nurse.

"It's Robbins, right?"

"Yeah, yes, Robbins, that is me," Arizona said stumbling over her words slightly. _God, you sound so uncool right now pull it together,_ she thought. "It's Arizona actually, you can call me Arizona. Well, Dr Robbins when we're working but Arizona when we're…not" she finished lamely. She noticed a ghost of a smile tugging at Callie's lips and she knew why.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Arizona Robbins is a pretty spectacular name, right?"

"Hey, I'm not laughing. Are you named after the state?"

"Uhh, yeah, something like that. And you totally were laughing."

"Well it's better than Calliope."

"I think Calliope is a beautiful name."

Callie smiled a little awkwardly and returned to her chart. Arizona silently cursed herself, why was she acting so stupid? Picking up woman was her specialty but at the moment she was acting like a blubbering school girl. She decided to change tack before Callie ran away and hid from the weirdo that was sounding a little creepy right now.

"You're doing surgery already then? You've only been here two days, you must be keen," Arizona said.

"Yeah, I just wanted to get straight into it. If I don't get my hands on some bones soon, I'll go crazy. I left the other hospital I was at two weeks ago and took a mini holiday in Miami before coming here, so I'm ready to go."

Arizona smiled a relieved dimpled smile. Callie was talking to her easily, now that she had stop being so creepy towards her. Callie smiled back as her pager went off. She checked it and her face lit up even more.

"That's my co-surgeon, he said to come scrub in early so he can show me around the OR," Callie said.

Arizona frowned slightly. She had checked the OR board an hour ago and her surgery was the only one scheduled for this time.

"Are you sure?" Arizona asked, "Maybe his pager is defective or something, there's only one surgery starting anytime soon and I didn't see your name on it."

Now it was Callie's turn to look confused. She checked her pager again and looked back quizzically at Arizona.

"I'm pretty sure it is. A kid came in with a shattered femur an hour ago and Carlson was going to take it but the Chief said I could do it instead. My first surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West at 2AM, no one's around so there isn't heaps of pressure on me you know?"

Arizona perked up immediately. She was going to spend hours in an OR with this gorgeous woman. They could talk and chat and maybe flirt a little and she could shed the creepy tag she had stuck to her head.

"That's the surgery I'm in on too, we'll be working together," Arizona said, positively beaming. A smile that faltered slightly as Callie frowned.

"I don't think we are," she said slowly.

"Yeah, the Collin's kid."

"But my co-surgeon _just _paged me and well, he's a guy."

"No, no it's me! I was going to go in in twenty minutes but then…then…"

Realization struck Arizona and her mouth dropped open in rage. She had given the surgery to Alex. He probably found out that Callie was going to be working on it and had literally stolen the surgery right out of her pocket. She _knew _something wasn't quite right and now she was furious.

"That bastard!" she growled and began running down the hall, leaving a thoroughly confused Callie behind her checking her pager. Arizona ran past stunned doctors as she arrived at the OR door, shoving it open to find a smirking Karev scrubbing in.

"I can't believe you actually bought it. I don't give a shit about cars."

"You are a slimy worm you know that Alex? Why did you do this!"

"Because we have a bet which I plan to win and leaving you in the same room as her for four hours is not going to help my cause."

"We're going to work together eventually!"

"Yeah, well, not tonight."

The door opened behind them and Callie came walking in, stopping when she realized they were fighting.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll come back," Callie said and began to back out of the door. Alex shook his head and waved her towards him.

"No, we're finished here," he said, "Dr Robbins was just leaving."

Arizona glared at him. She had been outsmarted by _Alex Karev _and there was nothing she could do. He was going to spend hours in the same room as Callie, chatting her up in his gross man kind of way and she would hear all the details about it when he came home.

"Actually I'm going to observe. I haven't seen a femur this badly damaged in a long time and I'd like to watch the magic, if that's alright with you Dr Torres."

Callie looked slightly taken aback but she nodded as she walked over to the sink to scrub in. Alex was glaring daggers at Arizona but he stayed silent and Arizona sent him a false smile.

"Great!" she said over enthusiastically, "This is going to be fun. I like bones, they're cool, I would have gone into Ortho if the Ped's gig hadn't worked out." Alex rolled his eyes as she walked past him, pinching him on the arm as she entered the OR.

* * *

"God, this femur's a mess; I'm going to be awhile."

Arizona stood behind Alex, pretending to observe his work while secretly watching Callie out of the corner of her eye. They had been in here an hour now and only a few words had been spoken between the surgeons. Callie was completely focused on the patient, her hands moving with an amount of skill that Arizona had never seen before. She seemed to be able to predict bleeders before they even happened and had fixed a large portion of the bone already. _She's outstanding, _Arizona thought. A pager beeped on the tray table it had been placed and a nurse walked over to check it.

"It's yours, Dr Karev. 911 on your patient in room 185."

Alex's head snapped up and his eyes widened.

"Dammit," he said quietly. Arizona walked forward slowly, placing her hand gently on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Dr Karev. I can take over for you here, your patient needs you."

Alex held her eye, glaring at her as he recognized the smug grim that Arizona's mask was hiding. He lay down his scalpel and ripped off his mask, swearing under his breath as he stalked out of the OR. Arizona followed him and scrubbed in, waving cheerily at him as he ripped of his gloves and left. She entered back into the OR and picked up the scalpel. Callie frowned and looked up, noticing a different set of hands were on the patient.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Dr Karev had to leave, 911. I'll be working with you from now on."

"Oh, that's great. Sorry, I get so focused on what I'm doing that I don't notice what's happening around me sometimes."

"That's the mark of a good surgeon, your old hospital would have been sad to lose you."

Callie didn't answer as she focused on cauterizing a bleeder, demanding suction from a clearly star struck intern. His hands shook as she told him precisely where to go and he couldn't keep his eyes off her. Then again, neither could Arizona. Her fingers moved so quickly and precisely that it was nearly unbelievable. _Don't think about her fingers, Arizona. You're working on a patient, be professional._

Callie let out a satisfied sigh as the bleeding stopped. She clicked her neck and looked up at Arizona.

"They were disappointed to let me go, but they couldn't give me what I needed. I asked for more equipment to continue on with my cartilage research but they said they didn't have the money and, there was also some other… So I applied to here and Mass Gen. Mass couldn't offer me the head of ortho job so here I am."

"Hopkins couldn't afford to give a Harper Avery winner a bigger lab?"

"Well well, someone's done their research. Other stuff factored into it too but, yeah. Addison told me that there was an opening here and I took it."

"How do you know Dr Montgomery?"

"We completed our residencies together in Miami; we've been friends for a long time. She offered me a place to stay while I find an apartment so I've been staying with her. Except last night, we stayed at Mark's because it was closer to the bar."

Arizona tried with all her might to stop herself from smiling. Sloan had been smack talking; she wasn't _going home_ with him she was just going home with him. Callie returned her focus to the patient and began placing screws into the femur. They worked in silence, the ticking of the clock the only sound between them. After an hour, Callie let out a breath and stepped away, stretching her back and rolling her neck. She placed her hands on her hips and looked up to the viewing gallery, which was full.

"4AM in the morning and the galleries full; go figure."

Arizona laughed slightly and nodded as she stitched.

"They wanted to see the magic happen, and happen it did."

Callie looked at Arizona, holding eye contact for a few seconds. It was only a glance, but Arizona could feel a slight layer of goose bumps crawl over her skin as she stared into those dark eyes. But the next moment it was over as Callie picked up her scalpel and began to close.

* * *

"You were amazing in there; you did things I've never seen done before on a kid. And in half the time that Carlson would have done it in."

Callie and Arizona were scrubbing out, having completed their first successful surgery together. Arizona was exhausted but satisfied with their work and watched as Callie smiled while she washed her hands.

"Thank you, you weren't so bad yourself."

"I was awesome!"

Callie laughed and flicked some water at Arizona, causing her to squeal and flinch away from it. Arizona turned her tap on and flicked some back, causing Callie to laugh even harder. The badass surgeon that had just performed the work of a God had disappeared to be replaced by an easy-going fun woman. Arizona couldn't stop grinning as Callie laughed, her features appearing even more beautiful as her face was filled with mirth. Callie threw her hand towel at Arizona and it landed over her head.

"Hey, I thought we left the child in the OR room, but it appears he's in here with me," Arizona said cheekily, laughing as Callie threw another towel at her.

"I'm not childish! I just get happy when a surgery goes well, and that one went _really _well. And with all those people watching…" Callie faltered and the grin slipped off her face. She continued washing her hands in silence and Arizona smiled sadly.

"You don't like big audiences?"

"No, it's not that. It's just… they expect a lot from me. Ever since the Harper Avery thing, I can't go into any surgery without people breathing down my neck waiting for me to make a mistake. I do surgery because I love it; sometimes I wish people would just give me room to be a person."

Arizona nodded but stayed silent as she scrubbed. She had to admit, she had been dying to watch Callie operate too and it had been everything she had expected. But the woman standing next to her now seemed shy and unsure about herself, like she had been told she wasn't good enough before. Arizona dried her hands and walked over to Callie, rubbing her shoulder reassuringly.

"For what it's worth, you killed it in there. This is one to celebrate, let's go to Joe's, I'm buying."

Callie looked up from the sink and met Arizona's eye and she felt the goose bumps run through her again. She was extremely aware of how close they now were and her fingers buzzed at the contact she had on Callie's shoulder. Callie opened her mouth slightly and Arizona couldn't help but notice how plump her lips were, how good it would feel to bite that bottom lip, what that tongue would feel like...

Callie shook her head and took a step backwards, staring at the ground as she dried her hands hurriedly. Arizona dropped the hand that was now only holding thin air and frowned slightly. What the hell happened there?

"No," Callie said quickly, "I, uh, promised Addison I'd help her… shop. Thanks and sorry and um… goodnight."

With that she practically sprinted out the door and Arizona watched it swing to a close. She sighed as she turned back to the basin, but couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face as she imagined Alex sorting through a particularly nasty bowel obstruction in a month's time.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: You may notice that I've changed the title of the story. This is simply because there is already another story with this name and I don't want people getting confused. Happy reading :)**

"It was easier than taking candy from a baby I swear."

Teddy was shaking with laughter as Alex retold the surgery stealing story for the millionth time that night. She thought it was on one of the funniest things she'd ever heard, that Alex had taken the surgery so easily after Arizona had been so vicious about getting her hands inside any patient during her entire residency. Arizona rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the movie they were watching.

It was Friday night and they had decided to stay in and have a movie night. This quickly turned into Alex and Teddy paying no attention to the film and taking the piss out of her instead, laughing so loudly that she couldn't hear a word of dialogue. They were all huddled under a duvet on the couch together, surrounded by bowls of popcorn and lollies with Mission Impossible playing on the TV. She huffed loudly as a fresh round of laughter came from her left and picked up a cushion, throwing it as hard as she could at Alex's face. Her aim was miles off which caused him to laugh even harder.

"Oh, come on Arizona! We're just having a bit of fun," Teddy choked out, barely able to talk through her fit of laughter.

"It stopped being funny three hours ago!" Arizona growled back and felt a skittle bounce against her head for her negative tone of voice.

"You stole our surgeries all the time over the past five years, you don't get to be angry at me for doing it once," Alex added, flicking a piece of popcorn at her red cheeks. Arizona ignored him and turned her focus back to the movie. She wasn't actually that angry that Alex had taken her surgery; she had ended up performing it anyway and was able to share a few moments with Callie. She just hated being made fun of; she had endured enough of _that _in her life for having a funny name. She snatched the bowl out of Alex's unsuspecting hands and tipped it upside-down onto his head, a shower of kernels raining down on him. He yelled out and jumped up, brushing them off himself before diving onto Arizona and getting her into a head lock. She struggled furiously trying to break his hold but he was too strong, laughing as she twisted and turned to no avail.

"Let go of me!"

"Not until you apologize."

"You can suck it!"

Alex leant down and planted a kiss on her cheek and she squealed, now laughing as she tried even harder to escape from the hold he had her in.

"Ew gross, your face is all scratchy, go and shave you hobo!"

Alex planted a kiss on her other cheek before letting her go and ruffling her hair, walking back to his seat and flopping down.

"It's a Friday night; shouldn't you be bringing some horny lesbian home from Joe's and not sitting here watching movies with your roommates?" Alex asked and Arizona felt her cheeks go slightly red.

"I don't do that every weekend."

"Yeah, you're the reason I usually get no sleep on a Friday with all your screaming."

"I do not scream!"

"Actually, no you don't, you're more of a moaner. The girls you bring home always seem to be screamers though."

"You are such a pervert!"

"It's kind of hard not to hear it Az."

"He's right," Teddy piped in, her mouth filled with chips. Arizona smiled guiltily and Alex laughed as he pulled his phone from his pocket and started texting someone. Teddy began munching on some M&M's, immersed in the movie now that the fun and games had finished.

"I'm going to meet Avery at Joe's, see you guys later," Alex said a few minutes later as he stood up and grabbed his coat. Arizona spun around, her mouth open in frustration.

"You can't go; you're the one that forced us to hire this stupid movie in the first place!"

Alex shrugged and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Arizona tried to focus on the movie but she had missed too much, she had no idea what was going on.

"Teds, can we put Finding Nemo on?"

"Oh my God yes," she replied and jumped up to replace the DVDs. Neither of them were into action films but had somehow been convinced by a whining Alex to give it a chance, a choice they now thoroughly regretted. They watched the new movie for a few minutes before Teddy turned to Arizona.

"So, what's going on?"

"Uh, not much? What about you?"

"No, I mean with you and the hot new Ortho chick. Alex told me about the bet you two have going and I got to say, I can't wait to see his face as he sorts through mountains of shit."

"Aw that's nice, in a gross and disturbing kind of way."

"Well it's true. You've turned plenty of straight girls before, remember Nurse Maria? It took her, what, a week to jump into bed with you? _And _she had a boyfriend. I have to admit, that was one time you impressed me."

Arizona shoved Teddy playfully and shifted in her seat. She hadn't been overly proud of herself for that one; she tended to go for women who were single. But Nurse Maria was extremely hot and she hadn't been able to help herself, only feeling a tinge of remorse when her boyfriend had walked in on his seemingly straight girlfriend going down on another woman.

"Do you like her?" Teddy asked, snapping Arizona out of thoughts.

"Huh? No, I don't like her; I wouldn't even be interested if it weren't for the bet."

"Sure," Teddy said, an eyebrow raised, "So, what happened then?"

"Nothing. We nearly kissed in the scrub room the other day but she freaked and ran out, so I'm pretty sure she likes me but just won't admit it to herself yet. She's one of _those _ones."

"You've just got it all figured out, haven't you?"

"What can I say, I know my woman."

Teddy laughed and turned back to the movie. It was 11PM by the time it finished and Arizona could feel her eyelids starting to droop. She laid her head against Teddy's shoulder and felt herself start to doze off, hearing Teddy's soft breathing indicating she was asleep too. Her last thoughts were of chocolate brown eyes as she drifted peacefully into sleep.

* * *

_"Please Callie," Arizona begged as the naked woman on top of her sucked on her neck. She groaned helplessly as Callie found her pulse point, sucking hard and nearly making Arizona come on the spot._

_"Please, please Callie," Arizona repeated, her head spinning as she breathed heavily. Callie leant forward and kissed the space between her breasts, trailing down her stomach agonizingly slowly. Arizona lifted her hips as Callie's mouth came closer to her throbbing centre and let out a loud moan when she felt a wet tongue against her clit._

_"Keep going, please don't stop," she panted as she felt Callie's tongue swirl with expert skill._

"Arizona."

_She could feel her orgasm about to rip through her as she grasped Callie's hair in her fist, back arching as she moaned with anticipation._

"Arizona! I swear if you don't wake the fuck up right now I'll shove this pillow down your throat!"

Arizona opened her eyes, looking around blearily as her brain processed where she was. Her eyes fell on Teddy who was sitting next to her, a pillow raised. Arizona frowned.

"What are you doing here? Where's Callie?"

"You were having a sex dream!"

"Wh-what? No I wasn't I…" Arizona trailed off as she realized she was in her apartment, her body buzzing as she registered how turned on she was. A blush immediately lit up her cheeks and she sat up, rubbing her face and deliberately avoiding Teddy's eye.

"A sex dream!" Teddy repeated as she lowered the pillow. "While you were sleeping next to me! Alex was right, you are a moaner."

Arizona opened her mouth in horror as Teddy started imitating what she had heard. She grabbed the pillow and shoved it into Teddy's face as she howled with laughter.

"Oh Callie, don't stop Callie, please Callie! I didn't take you as a begger, Az."

"Oh shut up," Arizona replied as she stood up and looked at her phone. It was 9AM, her shift was starting in an hour and she needed to have a shower. She made her way to the bathroom as Teddy made over-the-top moaning sounds behind her.

"You need to have a cold shower after that dream?" Teddy called out to her as she entered the bathroom. Arizona stuck her head back out the door and winked.

"Actually, I just need the shower head," she replied and smirked widely as Teddy made a sound of disgust, shutting the door and letting a certain woman creep back into her thoughts.

* * *

"You get paged too?"

"Yeah, a car crash apparently. Seven victims in a van, two of them are kids."

Arizona and Alex tied each other's trauma gowns and talked as they walked towards the ER doors. A group of surgeons were already waiting outside, rubbing their hands against the cold as the first two ambulances pulled up. A paramedic jumped out and talked quickly as she opened the ambulances back doors.

"Female, 15 years old, obvious head trauma and lacerations to the face chest and arms. Suspected perforated liver."

"Mine. Someone page Shepherd," Alex called out and walked forward to meet the gurney.

The second ambulance pulled up and the paramedic leapt out of the driver's seat, darting to open the doors and speaking in a hurried tone.

"Male, 9 years old, coded twice in the field but we managed to revive him. Broken humorous and ulna and suspected damage to the bowel, kidneys and liver."

"MINE!" Arizona shouted a little too loudly, causing the other surgeons to turn and stare at her. She felt her face go slightly red and cleared her throat.

"Mine because I'm a paediatric surgeon and this is… a peds case… Um, someone page ortho for a consult please," she finished quickly and pulled the gurney through the doors and into the closest trauma room. She began feeling for any obvious signs of damage when the door opened and Carlson came walking in. Arizona felt her heart sink as he picked up the damaged arm and began inspecting it, tutting to himself as he felt the bones sticking out of the skin.

"Um, where's Dr Torres?" Arizona asked as nonchalantly as possible. Dr Carlson placed the arm down and frowned at her.

"Dr Torres is extremely busy. She has four other victims to see and as the head of ortho she…"

"Alright, alright I got it. Book an OR, he's needs surgery immediately."

She kicked the brakes off the gurney and began wheeling it to the elevator with the help of her residents and Dr Carlson. They reached the elevator doors and Arizona noticed Callie running towards them, a harried look on her face.

"Carlson, you paged?"

"Yes, this child has a broken humorous and ulna and what I expect to be a shattered shoulder. I just thought I would let you know as you asked me to report back any major cases to you," he said, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. Callie nodded and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Okay, okay great. I'll take this."

Carlson opened his mouth in disgust and gripped the gurney tighter.

"What? Respectively Dr Torres, this is my patient."

"And this is a complicated and risky surgery that I would prefer to perform myself. There's a fractured ankle in bed two that needs looking after and a broken wrist in bed four that needs a cast."

Carlson stood with his mouth open as they entered the elevator, throwing his arms in the air and stalking back towards the ER. Arizona couldn't help but smile at Callie who gave her a questioning look.

"You totally just stole his surgery."

Callie threw her a guilty look but didn't reply. She turned to the nurse and read through the chart, biting her lower lip slightly as she read. She turned back to the child and smiled down warmly at him, touching his uninjured arm in a compassionate gesture.

"Hey there buddy, my names Dr Torres and this is Dr Robbins. We're going to fix you up and you'll be out of here in no time at all okay? You'll be able to eat all the ice cream you want for _ages_, does that sound good to you Tim?"

Arizona stiffened visibly as the boy nodded and the doors dinged open. The nurses wheeled him into OR1 and Callie and Arizona walked into the scrub room, hastily washing their hands. Arizona tried to keep her voice steady as she turned to Callie.

"Um, did you just say that child's name was Tim?"

"Yeah why?"

"Oh, no reason. I just… like to know my patients names."

"Yeah me too, makes them seem like more than just a bag of meat that we're cutting into."

Callie smiled at Arizona but she barely noticed. She could hear a slight ringing in her ears as her mind went blank, fighting to hold down tears as she walked into the OR.

"These kidneys are a mess, I don't know if they're going to be salvageable."

Arizona frowned as she surveyed the tiny organs, hoping that she could repair the mess that lay in front of her. She had managed to fix his liver with little complication and had moved on to the kidneys, leaving the bowel for last. Callie had tried to make small talk with her but she wasn't in the mood, she just wanted to fix this child and get out of there.

Callie was busy replacing the ulna bone with a steel rod, having already repaired the shoulder and humorous. Arizona had barely even noticed as Callie had fixed these bones that most other surgeons would have calld irreparable. Suddenly, the machine began beeping like crazy and all sets of eyes darted to the monitor showing that his blood pressure was plummeting. Arizona looked down and noticed a large amount of bleeding in his bowel, something she had somehow failed to pick up earlier.

"Dammit!" she exclaimed and began fishing around for the bleeder. "Give me some suction! I can't see a damn thing!" The intern placed the suction hastily in the area she indicated but it barely helped; there was just too much bleeding. Arizona began to grow desperate as his BP continued to plummet and she could feel her throat beginning to constrict in panic. Callie looked up from the arm she was working on and watched a clearly frazzled Arizona with a slight frown on her face.

"Come on, come on, where are you," Arizona muttered as she felt around furiously to locate the bleeding. The heart rate monitor began to beep wildly as the loss of blood began taking its toll on his heart.

"No, no, NO!" Arizona growled as she could feel him slipping away from her. "Come on Tim! Don't give up; please don't die on me, please!"

Callie leant forward and saw the tears shining in her eyes. She glanced down at the blood filled bowel and talked in a low whisper.

"Arizona, look at me."

"Hold on Tim, I'm going to help you, you're going to be fine-"

"Dr Robbins!" Callie said a little more loudly and Arizona looked up, a look of sheer panic on her face.

"You can do this," she continued, dropping her voice back to a whisper. "You've done this a thousand times before, stop trying to look for it with your eyes; you'll never see it amongst all the blood. Feel with your hands. Look at me Arizona; you're going to find it. You need to breathe and clear your mind."

Arizona looked into those dark eyes, so compassionate and trusting and felt her anxiety lessen. She nodded slightly and held eye contact, running her fingers more slowly over the bowel. The monitors were still beeping crazily but she ignored them; getting lost in a pair of eyes that believed she was going to find it. She couldn't let her down; it had to be here somewhere…

* * *

Arizona sat on a bench outside the hospital, smoking a cigarette and trying to fight back tears that threatened to spill over any second. She held a passport sized picture in her hand; a laughing boy with bright blue eyes and deep dimples. She smiled slightly as she gazed at the picture and a single tear feel onto it.

"I heard those things are bad for your health."

Arizona snapped her head up to find Callie standing a few feet in front of her, a sad smile on her face. She hastily shoved the picture back into her pocket and wiped her eyes.

"That's a conspiracy theory," Arizona replied, but stubbed her cigarette out regardless. Callie sat down next to her and gazed out over the parking lot.

"Are you okay?" she finally said.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine," Arizona snapped back, sounding a lot harsher than she meant.

"Did you know that boy?"

"No."

"Well, you shouldn't be upset; you saved his life in there."

"I was distracted and off my game; I nearly killed him. I should have seen the laceration in his bowel a lot earlier."

"There must be a reason for that?"

Arizona looked up and met Callie's eyes; those trusting brown orbs that shone so brightly despite their color. But for once, this woman wasn't the reason Arizona couldn't focus properly. She shook her head and looked down at her hands.

"It was a big surgery, guess it got the best of me," she replied, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"You just panicked that's all, it happens to the best of us. You want to talk about it?"

Arizona shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked away. No, she didn't want to talk about it. She felt stupid, these kinds of things shouldn't still be affecting her and she felt weak. She never liked expressing her feelings to anyone; her father had always told her that some things were better off left unsaid. This was one of them.

"It must be hard working in Peds," Callie continued, filling the silence. "I don't know how you can watch kids come in with terminal illness', that must destroy you. Why did you choose it?"

Arizona stood abruptly, picking up her bag from her feet and pulling it over her shoulder.

"That's none of your business," she snapped. "It's the specialty I chose because it's the specialty I chose."

Callie stood up too, a slight look of hurt on her face.

"Sorry, I didn't realize it was a touchy subject."

"That's because you don't know me so don't just assume I'm some weak girl who picked Peds because it's a 'soft' specialty."

"I never assumed that," she replied coolly. "Some of the toughest surgeons I know are in Peds. And just because you're crying doesn't make you weak, it means that something's upsetting you and for some reason you can't accept that that's a normal reaction to certain trauma."

"What, so you're a therapist now too?" Arizona spat back.

"No, but I thought we were friends so I came over to try and make you feel better. I'll make sure to not make _that _mistake again."

Arizona gaped at her but remained silent, the anger slowly ebbing out of her body to be replaced by numbness. She was being such a bitch to Callie simply because she wanted to take her rage out on someone other than herself. She looked down at her feet as tears sprung back into her eyes. Callie sighed and made to walk towards her before thinking better of it.

"I understand you don't want to talk about it," she said softly, "But don't let whatever it is eat away at you. You were brilliant in there today and you saved his life. That's all that matters now."

Arizona nodded but remained silent as she knew if she spoke her voice would betray her. Callie smiled sympathetically and walked forward, wiping a tear away that had slowly trailed down her cheek. Arizona leant into the warmth of her hand as her pager went off. She sighed and saw she was being paged to the ER; another trauma was coming in. She sent Callie a weak smile before turning around and walking back into the hospital, a million thoughts running through her head.

**A/N: I know this was a really fast update, but all your nice reviews inspired me to write another chapter quickly! Thank you and don't forget to let me know what you think :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Arizona walked into the cafeteria, her stomach growling loudly as she surveyed the food in front of her. She had just finished a particularly complicated seven hour surgery and had only eaten a slice of toast since breakfast. She loaded her tray with a sandwich, a donut, chips, yoghurt and a bottle of water and scanned the cafeteria for her friends, spying Alex, Cristina and Meredith sitting at one of the tables in the corner. She began walking over to them, opening her chip packet when she noticed a certain someone sitting by herself and reading a medical journal. Arizona changed her line and made her way towards Callie, smiling as she drew near.

"This seat taken?" she asked. Callie jumped slightly as she looked up for the source of the voice. Her food lay untouched in front of her, obviously ignored as she became absorbed in her readings. She smiled and shook her head, gesturing to the seat next to her. Arizona sat down and fidgeted with her hands slightly.

"Hey, I just wanted to apologize for how I was the other day. I was rude to you and I didn't mean to be, I was just having a rough day."

Callie smiled genuinely as she lowered her journal.

"Seriously, you don't have to apologize. I totally understand; we all get like that."

Arizona let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and flashed her dimples. She unravelled her sandwich from its cling wrap casing, her mouth beginning to water at the closeness of the food.

"So, how has your first week at Seattle Grace treated you?" Arizona asked as she took a large bite. Callie placed the journal on the table and picked up her apple.

"Pretty good," she replied, tossing the apple between her hands. "Everyone's been really nice and I've had a decent case load to work with. It's different to Hopkins, but in a good way."

Arizona nodded, her mouth too filled with chicken and mayonnaise to reply. She chewed and swallowed hastily, eager to hold Callie's attention.

"That's great," she said eventually, trying not to cough as a stray piece of chicken lingered at the back of her throat. "You've made a good first impression on everyone, the interns never shut up about how they always get to cut something whenever they scrub in with you."

"I just figure that's the best way to learn. It's how I was taught and I had the best teacher in the world; Dr Bob Sinclair. I was sad to leave him behind."

"You were taught by Bob Sinclair!? He's a legend!"

Callie smiled broadly and nodded.

"Yeah, he is. But I'm here now and this is good too. Addison and Mark have really made me feel at home."

Arizona made a sound in her throat at the mention of Mark's name and Callie raised an eyebrow.

"What's the deal with you two?" she asked. "You're both so professional when it comes to surgery and yet you act like children around each other."

Arizona laughed slightly as she finished her sandwich and moved onto the yoghurt.

"Just different personality types I guess," she shrugged.

Callie raised her eyebrow again, a sceptical expression on her face as she didn't buy the excuse. Arizona couldn't help but smile as she knew her pathetic lie hadn't passed the test.

"You're friends with him, you don't want to know."

"Oh don't give me that! I've known him for a week, try me."

Arizona remained quiet as she ate her yoghurt. Callie stared at her, waiting for a reply that wasn't coming. She gazed around the cafeteria, deliberately avoiding making eye contact and trying to keep her face straight as the woman across from her grew impatient. Callie tapped her fingers against the table before darting her hand out and grabbing the donut off of Arizona's tray.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Tell me!"

Arizona leant across and reached for it; her attempt futile as Callie stretched away from her. Their chests brushed together and Arizona could smell a vanilla scent, no doubt Callie's body wash. Her body reacted automatically to their close proximity and she pulled away hastily as her body tingled slightly.

"Fine, but you have to give it back straight afterwards."

Callie nodded quickly and sat upright in her chair again, eagerly awaiting the story. Arizona sighed and willed her cheeks to remain their natural color.

"My first two years of residency we got along really well. He was a good teacher to me, so much so that I considered going into Plastics at one point. Only briefly though," she added hastily as she noticed Callie pulling a face at the prospect.

"I had been seeing someone since halfway through my intern year; she was head of Neonatal at the time. She wanted to keep our relationship a secret because she thought it would… Um, anyway, in my third year she-she gave me…"

Arizona trailed off as she felt her cheeks redden. Why was she telling the woman she was trying to bed this story? She shook her head and made to stand up but Callie reached out quickly and grabbed her forearm.

"Hey, come on, I asked. I promise I won't laugh."

Arizona opened her mouth, about to tell her no. Callie stroked her forearm slightly as she looked at her and Arizona felt her will melt away. Was she deliberately flirting with her or just trying to get the gay chick to talk? _Probably the latter_, she thought to herself.

"Okay. Well, yeah," she continued, "After two years together she gave me… syphilis," she mumbled. To Callie's credit, her mouth didn't even twitch.

"I don't have it anymore," she added quickly. "But as you can imagine, I was pretty pissed and it turned out she was bisexual, not gay like she had told me, and was seeing Mark behind my back."

Arizona swallowed the lump in her throat, realizing this was the first time she had spoken to anyone about this in a long time. Callie was still stroking her arm as she continued.

"Mark and I had a huge fight over her. And by huge I mean in the middle of the cafeteria while every doctor listened in as I basically spilled all of our secrets to them. He wanted her to leave me for him but she refused and wanted to fix things between us. That really hurt him and his ego and we spat some pretty nasty things at each other. Anyway, I stupidly took her back until I discovered… well, it didn't last. Then a few weeks later, there was a massive outbreak of syphilis and things just turned really bad and she ended up leaving. He blames me and I blame him and so… we just don't get along," she finished quietly.

"I heard about that," Callie said, gazing into space slightly as she remembered hearing about that particular drama from an intern back at Hopkins. She could sense that this was a sensitive subject that Arizona wanted to drop and decided it would be smart to not press for more details at this time.

"That I was dating my attending?"

"No, no, the syphilis outbreak. This hospital got dubbed the nickname 'Seattle Grace Syph' for about a year by everyone else. Addison wasn't too happy considering she had just accepted a job here."

Arizona burst out laughing as she imagined a classy and slightly snobby Dr Montgomery finding out she was heading to a hospital filled with slutty doctors that couldn't keep their pants on. Then again, she probably drooled over the prospect of it; Addison wasn't exactly an angel herself. Arizona became faintly aware of Callie's hand still stroking her arm and she felt her spirits lift. She had already told Callie the entire story and she was still choosing to touch her. She stopped laughing abruptly when she remembered that Callie was Addison's best friend and it probably wasn't polite, especially after Callie had been so understanding towards her.

"Thanks for not laughing," Arizona said quietly, staring at those long tanned fingers stroking her skin.

"It wasn't a funny story," Callie replied, smiling warmly. Arizona looked up and they made eye contact. And there it was again, the feeling of trust and understanding being projected by a single look. A feeling she hadn't felt from another person in a long time.

"Torres!"

Callie looked up frowning at the intruder before her expression changed to one of surprise. She pulled her hand from Arizona's arm to wave at the newcomer before dropping it onto her lap. Arizona turned and nearly groaned in annoyance as she saw Mark walking towards them.

"What are you doing here Robbins? Get lost."

Arizona made to stand up but felt a hand on her shoulder before she could.

"I invited her to sit with me Mark," Callie said, applying slight pressure on her shoulder. "She's my friend too."

"You're new here so you probably don't know, but attendings don't sit with fellows especially if said attending is head of department. It's like an unspoken rule."

Callie opened her mouth to argue but Arizona placed her hand on the one holding her shoulder and gently removed it.

"It's fine Callie," she said quietly as she noticed people starting to look there way. She didn't want to be the centre of the rumor mill and having another public argument in the cafeteria was not a good idea. She could see people starting to whisper and glance from her to Callie to Mark, as if they were some kind of love triangle. She didn't need _that _rumor going around either. "Plus if I stick around here I'll probably catch something from _him_."

"Bit late for that isn't it?" Mark replied with a sneer and Arizona sent him a withering look.

"I'll see you round Callie." She picked up her tray and walked over to where Alex, Cristina and Meredith were still sitting. She sighed loudly as she sat down and slammed her tray on the table.

"So we're your second option then, are we?" Cristina asked.

"I feel like punching someone right now, don't tease me," Arizona grumbled and Cristina held up her hands in surrender. She had been making such good progress and then _Mark Sloan _had to come and ruin it like he always did. She was lucky if she could get five minutes alone with Callie outside of an OR without someone interrupting them.

"She's just grumpy because it's been a week already and Torres is still showing no interest," Alex said, his mouth full of chips. Arizona punched him hard on the shoulder and he made a muffled sound of hurt.

"You can't say I didn't warn you. I have actually made progress I just don't go blabbing about it because we all know how _that _can backfire on a person," Arizona said as she leant over and snatched some of his chips.

"You so haven't," Alex replied and pulled a face at her.

"Actually, I think she's telling the truth," Cristina said and nodded behind Arizona's head. Arizona turned around to see Callie walking towards her with a donut in her hand. She stopped next to her and leant down slightly, giving Arizona a perfect view of her cleavage.

"Hey, um, you forgot to take this with you," Callie mumbled and placed it on her tray. "I was wondering, can you meet me on the ortho floor in fifteen minutes? A guy came in with a broken jaw a few hours ago and I was wondering if you wanted to scrub in with me?"

Arizona nodded eagerly but before she could reply Alex had stuck his head between them, a look of desperation on his face.

"I can scrub in if you want!"

"Oh, no thank you, I'd prefer Dr Robbins. I'm sure you're great, but we've worked together on a few surgeries now and I can trust her hands."

Alex's face dropped and he slumped back in his chair.

"I'd love too," Arizona said and returned Callie's smile with as much enthusiasm as possible. She tried not to appear too smug as Callie walked away and she turned back to her food.

"That was embarrassing Alex," Meredith said after a few moments.

"Shut up," Alex snarled, picking up his tray and moving to where Avery and Kepner were sitting. The Twisted Sister's laughed and began talking about Addison's new haircut as Arizona munched on a donut that tasted even sweeter than usual.

* * *

"Hey, is he ready to go?"

Arizona tied on her scrub cap as she walked up to Callie who was scribbling in a chart. She shut the folder and pulled her own scrub cap out of her pocket.

"Yeah, OR2 is prepped; I thought we could get going in a few minutes?"

"Sounds awesome. Hey, I was wondering, after the surgery do you want to grab a dri-"

"Robbins!" Arizona spun around and saw the Chief charging down the hallway towards her. She took a few steps backwards as he neared and felt herself shrink a little.

"Y-yes sir?"

"I just checked the OR board and I saw you were scrubbing in on one of Torres' surgeries. Is this true?"

"Um, yes sir."

"The ER is currently _filled _with paediatric cases waiting to be attended to and you are scrubbing in on a surgery on a 30 year old man. _Is this true?"_

"Yes sir, but-"

"You are not a resident anymore Dr Robbins! You do not get to pick and choose which specialty you'd like to do for the day!"

"But-"

"Dr Torres can handle this surgery by herself, stop pestering her. I know it's exciting to work with a Harper Avery winning surgeon but we must share the load around, everyone can benefit from her teachings not just you. Now get to the ER and help a damn child!"

The Chief spun on his heel and stalked back the way he came, muttering to himself about not needing another ortho surgeon. Arizona felt her bottom lip begin to wobble and she stared at the floor willing herself not to cry. She felt her eyes starting to prickle with hot tears and she couldn't stop herself from sniffing.

"Woah, he's fiery today," Callie said with an amused look on her face. "Don't worry about it, I'll go see him later and explain that I asked you to- hey are you alright?"

Arizona nodded but continued to stare at her feet.

"Authority issues," she mumbled and wiped her eyes. Callie stared at her for a few moments before the corners of her mouth began to twitch.

"Oh, um, okay. That's-that's okay."

Arizona shook her hand and turned to walk back to the ER, wanting to sink into the floor and die. She reached the elevators and pushed the down button, willing for it to come faster as she saw Callie staring at her from down the hall. That was the _second _time she had seen her cry in a week, she was going to make Callie think she was some kind of emotional wreck who couldn't handle the pressure of being a surgeon. The elevator doors dinged open and she walked in hastily and pulled her phone from her pocket. She selected Teddy's name from her contacts and typed out a text.

**_Want to go to Joe's after work? I need a drink._**

Her phone beeped a few seconds later as she exited the elevator and made her way into the ER.

**_Sorry I can't. Back to back surgeries, going to be here until midnight. We can bitch about our days when I get home?_**

Arizona replied with a 'yes' as she picked up the chart for a young boy who was crying hysterically. The mother began talking at a mile a minute about all his symptoms and how she suspected it was cancer as that's what Wikipedia had said. Arizona forced a smile and listened carefully as she read through his chart. The child, Troy, was probably suffering from a stomach virus but this woman was going to take some convincing. She was _definitely _going to need a drink after this one.

* * *

"White wine please."

Arizona sat down on one of the stools at the bar as Joe poured her drink. She thanked him and took a sip, the chilled liquid running down her throat and she felt herself relax. It was 11PM, three hours after her shift was supposed to finish and she was exhausted. She had diagnosed Troy with a common stomach virus and had been looking forward to finishing early. She was nearly changed into her street clothes when she had received a 911 page to the ER and had rushed a young girl with a blown appendix into surgery. It had been messy and long but, eventually, successful and she felt she deserved this drink.

Arizona looked around the full bar for a familiar face. A few interns were in the corner playing darts, laughing loudly and sloshing their drinks over the ground. Derek and Owen were sitting at a table in the corner murmuring over their scotch. A few nurses were giggling over a bottle of wine, but other than that she knew no one. She turned back to her glass feeling extremely weary and considering throwing it back so she could go home and crawl into bed when the bell over the door jingled. She heard footsteps behind her and smelt a whiff of vanilla and suddenly didn't feel so tired anymore.

Callie sat next to her, ordering a rum and coke and placing her bag on the counter. She sighed dreamily as she took a sip and Arizona couldn't help but smile.

"How did you surgery go?" she asked.

"Long," Callie replied and took another sip. "A lot longer then I originally thought. My resident's mind was somewhere else and he kept screwing up."

"It wasn't Sullivan, was it?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"He's in love with you. Hasn't stopped talking about you since you arrived."

Callie looked at her bewilderedly before shaking her head and sipping at her drink.

"It's the Harper Avery thing," she said. "People get all star struck about it and think of me as some kind of celebrity. That's what he's in love with. That's what everyone's in love with."

"I don't think that's the only reason," Arizona said and Callie smiled slightly.

"Well, lately it has been," she replied as she swirled the ice around her glass. "That's all anyone ever asks me about. I mean I am grateful for it, but I didn't do it alone, that's what no one else really sees."

Arizona frowned slightly at her last words. A person could only win a Harper Avery if they conducted the research and trials by themselves and then gathered a team to help them. Was that what she meant? Callie noticed Arizona's frown and put her glass back down.

"When I say that, I meant I had somebody supporting and encouraging me the whole way. There were so many times when it just wasn't working and I wanted to quit so badly but she always… this person helped pick up the pieces and would just be there for me. Without them, I wouldn't have even made the shortlist for the award."

"I'm sorry; I don't quite understand what you mean?" Arizona said slowly. Callie downed her drink and ordered another one, sipping it thoughtfully.

"My trial was failing pretty badly when I first started out. I had been working on it for about two months when Dr Sinclair told me that if there weren't any improvements in the next two weeks they were going to shut it down. I was just about ready to give up when a friend came to me and helped me with my thought processes and we managed to think up a new strategy and it worked. The jello that had been filling my test tubes for months finally turned into cartilage and the rest is history, I guess."

"And this friend, they didn't ask for any credit?"

"No, she wasn't like that. She was different. Not many people liked her but we had been friends since our intern year, we were just drawn together in an unexplainable way."

"Is she the reason you left Hopkins?"

Arizona knew asking that question was risky and wasn't surprised when Callie's head snapped up and a flash of anger crossed her face.

"I-what? No, I told you the reason I left was because they wouldn't give me a bigger lab."

"I just don't understand how the number one ranked hospital in America couldn't afford to do that. You said yourself that there were other reasons."

The anger became more apparent on Callie's face and Arizona instantly regretted pushing it. She knew it was none of her business, that this woman probably wasn't interested in telling someone she had known for a week about her troubled past with love. But the next moment all the fight seemed to leave Callie's face and she slumped slightly in her chair. She downed her drink and ordered another and Arizona had a hunch the alcohol was being used to dull the pain.

"We spent so much time in the lab together that we naturally grew closer," Callie said quietly. Arizona was shocked at her sudden change in attitude but overlooked it; she was desperate to hear this information.

"We didn't date but… I don't know what we were. In the end she wanted to put a label on it but I was confused… I _am _confused," Callie said as she took another gulp of her drink. Tears were brimming in her eyes as she continued.

"She got a job at Mayo and wanted me to go with her. But I decided to stay. Some days I still don't know why."

A single tear rolled down her cheek and Arizona felt an overwhelming sense of sadness fill her. She leant over and rubbed the small of Callie's back as they sat in silence for a few moments. She knew how that felt; to love someone but not be able to be with them and she sympathised. Callie sniffed and wiped her eyes, forcing a smile onto her face.

"So, authority issues huh?"

Arizona couldn't help but laugh as she placed her hand back onto her lap. A loud cheer went up behind her as one of the interns must have hit the bull's eye.

"My Dad was in the army, very strict man. Let's just say I was the perfect child since I always cried whenever I felt like I let him down. I worked hard and skipped two grades in school so that he could boast to all his army buddies about his smart daughter. When I told him I got Chief resident I think he nearly cried."

Arizona finished with a chuckle and drunk the rest of her wine. She ordered another one and noticed that Callie was frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"You skipped two grades in school? Are you still in your twenties?

"Late twenties…"

Callie nearly choked on her drink and looked up in amusement.

"Late twenties!? You're just a baby! Are you sure you're allowed that alcohol? Shouldn't your parents be supervising you," Callie said with a smug grin. Arizona rolled her eyes dramatically and shook her head.

"This coming from the youngest Harper Avery winner in fifty years," she replied.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Depends if you're the one taking me to bed."

Arizona froze, not thinking about what she had said before the words had come tumbling out. It was natural instinct for her to flirt with woman in bars, but she had wanted to take a different approach with Callie. Woo her, befriend her and make her feel like she was calling the shots rather than hit on her like she had done a week ago and be rejected again. To her surprise however, Callie smiled slightly as she took another sip of her drink.

"You're cheeky, Dr Robbins. Now tell me about this baseball game against Seattle Press that we are supposed to be playing next week."

The subtle change of conversation wasn't missed by Arizona but she wasn't complaining. She had expected Callie to grab her things and run towards the door as fast as she could, but this was progress. She explained how the game was an annual event and that they always lost, but the after party was usually pretty fun.

They talked about the hospital and its staff, safe and appropriate topics, for the next hour. The drinks were flowing and the bar was soon packed with Saturday night party goers. Arizona was on to her third glass of wine but Callie was onto her fifth, becoming slightly giggly as the alcohol took effect on her brain. The clock showed 1.30AM before Callie finally rose from her seat.

"I'd better head home," she said, her speech slightly slurred. Arizona nodded and reached for her wallet but Callie shook her head vigorously.

"No, drinks are on me. My way of saying sorry for getting you in trouble with the Chief."

Arizona laughed and thanked her as she pulled some notes from her wallet and slammed them on the counter. They walked out the door together and the cold air ran straight through Arizona's coat, making her shiver rapidly. She began looking for a cab when-

"Walk me home?"

Arizona turned to look at Callie, feeling her heart beat pick up as she saw the mischievous look on her face. She nodded and tried to block the cold from her mind as they walked down the street in silence. Their arms were only inches apart and Arizona couldn't help but stare at those gorgeous tanned hands. Should she make a move? Callie had obviously shown her interest and now it was her turn to replicate it. She was going to do it, she was going to-

"Home," Callie said brightly as they stopped outside of an apartment building. Arizona looked at her bewilderedly; they had only been walking for two minutes.

"Callie… I can still see the bar."

"Yeah! This is my new place, pretty cool right?"

"Um, yeah it looks nice."

Callie turned to face her and they were only inches apart, all thoughts of hand holding going out the window. Arizona swallowed as her mouth became slightly dry; those plump lips were only a head lean away from hers.

"Thanks for listening to me tonight," Callie said in a low whisper, the atmosphere between them changing drastically. They looked directly into each other's eyes but neither made an attempt to move in.

"Anytime," Arizona replied just as quietly. "I like being around you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Being near you is better than a Harper Avery any day," Arizona said. She knew the line was cheesy, but it had the desired effect. Callie smiled broadly and her head tilted downwards slightly. Arizona began leading forward and felt her heart beat quicken even more as Callie didn't pull away. Her eyes never left Callie's as she moved closer to her lips and soon their mouths were only inches apart. Arizona could feel the adrenaline rushing through her as she stared into those dark eyes, faltering slightly as she saw a flash of hesitation cross her face.

"Please walk away," Callie whispered and Arizona felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice over her. She was sure this was the moment; Callie's eyes were begging for her to kiss her, yet her mouth spoke differently.

"What?" Arizona said, not moving forward but not moving backwards either.

"I can't do this Arizona, it's too soon. But if you kiss me… just please walk away."

Too soon? What did she mean by that? It wasn't like they were dating; this was purely a lustful connection. Callie's eyes looked black with desire and Arizona knew if she kissed her, Callie wouldn't want to stop her. So she was telling her to walk away before it reached that point. This was the moment where she could take out the bet, watch Alex's face drop as she retold the story tomorrow morning about how it had only taken a week to bed such an amazing woman. Yet, Callie had opened up to her tonight in a way that she hadn't expected. She had told her about her heartbreak and how she wasn't in the right place to be dealing with any more emotional drama right now. So, what was she supposed to do?

Arizona leant in, kissing Callie on the cheek before stepping back and smiling at her. A look of disappointment crossed her features before it was replaced by relief. Arizona turned and began walking down the street, hearing a door opening and closing as Callie entered her building. She pulled out her phone and dialled Teddy's number, waiting for a few seconds before a disgruntled voice rung through the speaker.

"I was sleeping Az," Teddy said groggily. "This better be important."

"I'm at Joe's; can you come and pick me up? I've got a lot to tell you."


	5. Chapter 5

"Robbins, are you coming?"

"Hold on a minute."

Arizona pulled some loose strands of hair down from the front of her cap and looked in the mirror. The baseball match between Seattle Grace Mercy West and Seattle Presbyterian was in an hour and she was being forced to play. She was terrible at baseball but the team had been short a player and the Chief had glared at her until she had tearfully said yes. Alex and Teddy stood by the open door, glancing down at their watches every two seconds and sighing pointedly.

"You look fantastic," Teddy said. "Those pants make your ass pop and you suit hats. Now let's go!"

Arizona turned and took one last look in the mirror before grabbing her bag and running after her roommates. She wasn't usually like this when it came to sports. She was always the girl who shook her head in disgust at those women who came to the gym with their hair and makeup done only to stand at stare at all the jocks. But today was different for her. She had to make an impression because Callie hadn't talked to her all week.

She had actively tried to seek her out when her shift began on Monday but could never find her anywhere. She had walked through the ortho floor at least twice a day but never spotted the only person she wanted to talk too. Carlson had stopped her multiple times, trying to make her take all his non-urgent pediatric cases since it wasn't worth his time. Arizona didn't understand why Callie was avoiding her; they had connected on a deep level the other night and there had been an obvious sexual attraction between them and Arizona had half expected Callie to seek her out and lead her to an on call room. Instead, she hadn't heard a word.

Callie's name had been the first on the sign-up sheet to play in this stupid game so there was _no way _she could continue avoiding her. She was running away from her feelings; Arizona had her exactly where she wanted. Because this was just sex to her, no matter what Teddy or anyone else thought. Arizona Robbins didn't get feelings for anyone, not even for someone like Callie Torres.

Teddy pulled the lid of Arizona's cap over her eyes as she walked past her and shut the door. They piled into Alex's truck and he started the engine, screeching out of his parking spot and zooming down the street. He was a terrible driver and had his license disqualified twice before for reckless driving and she could see why. They came so close to hitting a road sign she swore she saw her life flash before her eyes and decided it was best to cover her eyes for the rest of the journey.

"Alex, slow down!" Teddy screeched. "A stop sign means stop!"

"No time to for that," he replied and planted his foot down even harder on the accelerator.

They arrived at the ball park in record time, skidding to a stop and spraying gravel over the already parked cars. Arizona and Teddy nearly fell out of the truck to reach solid ground, breathing deeply to try and stop themselves from hurling. Arizona eventually regained her breath and looked up.

The rest of the team was standing about fifty feet away staring at them bewilderedly. It looked like Chief Webber had been halfway through a speech when they had caused such a scene he had been forced to stop. The only person who wasn't looking her way was Callie who was staring determinedly at her shoes. Mark and Addison were standing either side of her trying to involve her in a discussion that she didn't seem interested in.

Arizona slowly got up off the ground and sent a slight smile to the team as the trio walked over. Chief Webber had his hands on his hips and scowled at them as they approached.

"So glad you could join us," he bellowed, "and only half an hour after I told you to be here!"

Arizona stared at her shoes and avoided his eye, knowing she would burst into tears if she saw the disappointment on his face. Damn her authority issues.

"As I was saying," the Chief continued, turning back to the team. "Seattle Pres. has cancelled on us. They just received word of a bus crash with many casualties is coming in and they need all hands on deck." He frowned slightly as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, obviously annoyed that the trauma wasn't coming to SGMW instead.

"You all spend too much time inside so I've decided that this game is going to go ahead anyway." Loud groans echoed around the team as for a moment they had been hopeful of having a day off.

"I've split you into two teams," he continued, speaking louder as disgruntled muttering met his ears. "I've written them on this sheet, now be quiet and get into your positions."

A few swear words were murmured under breath as the players moved towards the sheet of paper that the Chief had placed on a bench. A gap eventually opened up and Arizona could see the team list. She felt her heart jolt slightly as she saw she was on the same team as Callie, feeling slightly lighter as she walked towards the dugout. Her team was batting first and their odds of winning looked good; Derek was the best pitcher there and Teddy could hit a ball hard and they were both on her team. Alex was on the opposition team and he was no mug at baseball; his fast ball was one to watch. Arizona sat next to Teddy and gazed nonchalantly down the bench to see Callie perched at the other end next to Meredith.

"Did you find out what her deal was?" Teddy asked as she tied her shoes. Arizona shook her head.

"No, but I will. I'll talk to her when we're in the outfield."

The Chief called batter up and they cheered as Owen walked forward, twirling his bat nervously in his fingers. Mark sent a speeding curve ball at him and he managed to get a decent hit on it, sprinting to first base. Arizona looked back to where Callie was sitting; feeling slightly surprised when dark brown eyes met hers. Callie quickly looked at her shoes, pretending the eye contact didn't occur. Arizona felt a pang of guilt; had she pushed things too far the other night? Was she seriously that uncomfortable around her now? She had to talk to Callie, she had to find out.

* * *

Arizona stood in the outfield and gazed around, holding no interest in what was happening in front of her. Their team had managed to get two runs before they reached three outs and she had been placed in the outfield near Meredith, whom she suspected was a little drunk. Callie was on second base, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she waited for something to do. Arizona couldn't help but stare at her ass in those tight pants and the way her t-shirt clung to her curves. There was no denying it; she looked _hot _in a baseball uniform. Then again, she looked hot in anything she wore.

Arizona was snapped from her thoughts as she heard the crack of bat against ball. It came flying through the air towards Meredith, who screamed and ran in the opposite direction. Arizona could hear Cristina cackling from her team's dugout and she realized that she should probably field the ball now that Meredith had disappeared. She ran over to it, picking it up and quickly surveying the scene in front of her. The hitter, Jackson, had decided to take a risk and run all the way to second base. Callie was standing with one foot on the base, beckoning at her to throw it. Arizona ran forward a few steps and threw the ball as hard as she could, watching as it sailed ten feet to Callie's right. The whole team groaned as Jackson slid to safety and Arizona felt herself blush. Callie looked at her with an expression crossed between amusement and bewilderedness on her face. She could hear Cristina cackling again as she lowered her cap over her eyes and made way back to her position.

Her small misdemeanor didn't cost the team any runs as Derek managed to get April and George out simultaneously, meaning it was their turn to bat again. Arizona walked past Alex who pushed her shoulder playfully.

"I thought lesbians were supposed to be good at baseball," he said with a smirk.

"What can I say, I've never been interested in playing with balls," she retorted.

"You can practice on me when we get home if you'd like?" Alex replied and laughed as Arizona threw her glove at him.

She made her way into the dugout and saw that there was a space on the bench next to Callie, to which she immediately headed too. Callie shifted slightly away from her and turned her head in the opposite direction as she sat down. Arizona turned to her and smiled warmly.

"How are you enjoying the game?" she asked.

"It's fine," Callie said shortly, still not looking at her.

"Have you played much baseball before?"

"A little."

Arizona frowned slightly at her tone. This woman was the complete opposite to the one she had spent hours talking to a week ago. She was cold and distant and obviously on edge as she tapped her foot repeatedly and Arizona had no idea why. Had she accidently insulted her? It couldn't be about the near kiss, they had both wanted to do it, and it wasn't like Arizona had tried to push her into anything. Yet, Callie was acting like she had killed her first born baby or something.

"Have I done something to upset yo-?"

"You shouldn't be talking to me," Callie interrupted. "I'm your attending and you're a fellow and… and there are rules around that."

"Oh yeah, because everyone follows that rule, right? Like Derek and Meredith, Owen and Cristina-"

"That's not the point," Callie snapped. "Those guys aren't friends they're… look it's just not going to work okay?"

Arizona stared incredulously at the ortho surgeon, who was still refusing to look at her as she talked. Something had really upset Callie and she felt determined to know why. Arizona opened her mouth to speak when the Chief called batter up and Callie sprung to her feet and grabbed a bat. She walked determinedly to the plate and Alex smiled as she approached.

"I'll go easy on you," he said and Callie rolled her eyes. He threw a fast ball, one of the fastest Arizona had ever seen him throw, but Callie was up to the challenge. She stepped forward slightly and swung hard, connecting sweetly with the ball and sending it over the fence. Both teams stood in awed silence as she jogged easily around the bases, smiling slightly as she finished her home run and the team began to roar with delight. They all jumped up to high-five her and it was minutes before the Chief began yelling at them to settle down and she finally took her seat.

"You've only played a little bit of baseball before?" Arizona asked, raising her eyebrow. She received a guilty smirk from Callie, who suddenly seemed to remember that she was supposed to be in a bad mood and looked away. Arizona felt a surge of annoyance run through her and suddenly felt like hitting something. She stood up immediately when the Chief called batter up and grabbed a bat. She replaced her cap with a helmet and strode out confidently to the batting plate. Alex smiled cunningly at her and she suddenly regretted making this decision. He threw a curve ball and she swung, only missing it by an inch. His team cheered as strike one was called and Alex smirked as the ball was thrown back to him. This time he threw a speeding fast ball and Arizona yelled out slightly and jumped away, earning a second strike. She breathed out slowly, willing herself to focus as the next ball was about to be thrown. Alex threw another fast ball, but Arizona had been expecting it. She stepped forward and swung hard, but the ball changed its line at the last minute. It curled towards her and she didn't have time to readjust her swing as the ball struck her hard on the wrist. She felt a searing pain run up her arm and immediately cried out.

She heard shouts of concern around her as everyone rushed forward. Alex was the first to reach her and was apologizing furiously as she clutched at her throbbing wrist. She felt tears spring into her eyes as someone grabbed her hand a little harshly and noticed Carlson inspecting it. She scrunched her eyes up and turned her head towards the ground as he began examining her fingers.

"It's her wrist, not her hand you idiot," a familiar voice said and Arizona's head snapped up. Callie had shoved her way to the front of the crowd and was glaring at Carlson. He blushed slightly and let go of Arizona's hand, mumbling incoherently to himself. Callie stepped forward and held it gently, running her hand along the swollen area.

"Come on, we'll go to the changing room and I'll take a look," Callie said quietly and Arizona nodded.

"Is it serious Torres?" the Chief asked, concern etched into his voice.

"I don't think so but I need to take a proper look," Callie replied. "You guys keep playing; I'll come with an update as soon as I know."

The Chief nodded regretfully and ordered everyone back to their position. Callie and Arizona began making their way away from the crowd and Alex followed, still apologizing.

"You've done enough," Callie hissed, surprising both Arizona and Alex with her tone. "Go away; we don't need your help."

Alex stood stunned on the spot as they continued walking towards the changing rooms.

"That was a little harsh," Arizona said after a few minutes.

"He shouldn't have gone so hard on you. He was showing off, it was unnecessary," Callie replied as she held the changing room door open and Arizona walked in, sitting down on one of the benches.

"I think he was trying to impress someone," she said, raising her eyebrows meaningfully and Callie frowned slightly.

"Well, it didn't work. Now hold still and let me take a look."

Callie reached forward and ran her fingers gently over the damaged wrist. Arizona watched her as she worked, pinning her increased heart rate down to the adrenaline and not the fact that this gorgeous woman was so close to her. After a few moments, Callie nodded but still held onto the wrist.

"It's just a sprain," she said and Arizona let out a sigh of relief. "It will be pretty bruised but you should only be out of surgery for a week."

Arizona watched as she stood up and walked to the first aid cooler. She pulled a bag of ice and a towel from it, allowing a few cubes to fall into the towel and wrapping it up tightly. She walked back to where Arizona was sitting and held it firmly to her wrist. Her other hand reached up tentatively and pushed against the palm of Arizona's hand to get more resistance. Arizona wrapped her fingers slowly around the hand that was supporting it and Callie looked up, meeting her eyes for the first time that day. She hastily looked away but left her hands where they were.

"Thank you," Arizona said softly. She nodded but continued staring at the wall behind Arizona's head. Arizona continued watching her to try and meet her eye but she was looking determinedly at a crack on the wall.

"Callie, what's going on? Have I done something wrong?" A shake of the head in response.

"Look at me," Arizona whispered but Callie shook her head again, now staring at the wrist instead. "Look at me," she repeated but still received no reply. Arizona reached forward and cupped Callie's chin with her uninjured hand, tilting it up gently to face her. Brown eyes reluctantly met blue and the hardened expression faded instantly. Arizona stroked her chin with her thumb as they stared into each other's eyes.

"What's going on Callie?" Arizona asked gently and felt a wave of sadness overcome her as Callie's eyes filled with tears.

"I-I don't really know," Callie whispered back. "I just… it's difficult to explain."

"Try," Arizona replied and sent an encouraging smile. Callie swallowed loudly and let out a shaky breath.

"I miss Erica."

Those were not the words Arizona was expecting to hear and she recoiled slightly. Callie mistook the confusion on her face for lack of knowing who Erica was, rather than shock over the statement.

"Erica was the friend I was telling you about back at Hopkins. I know I shouldn't miss her, I mean I was the one who didn't move states with her. But I've found myself thinking about her a lot lately."

"O-okay," Arizona replied, trying to ignore the sinking feeling she now felt in her chest. "I'm sorry to hear that, have you tried talking to her?"

"She ignores my calls and texts. I heard she's with someone else now anyway so…" Callie trailed off and her eyes became slightly glazed over as if she was thinking deeply. Arizona cleared her throat and broke eye contact, looking around the room awkwardly as she tried to think of a way to leave without looking rude. She had been sure that Callie was about to confess her feelings to her and instead she was hearing about some ex-girlfriend or friend or whatever that Callie wasn't over. She had to admit, it seriously sucked.

"You and Erica have the same color eyes," Callie said quietly and Arizona made eye contact with her again. She saw a deep passion now burning in the brown, but knew it wasn't towards her. "So it's kind of hard for me to make eye contact with you without thinking about her."

Arizona felt like her heart had sunk into her stomach. So the sexual tension that had occurred between them all those times was because Callie was thinking about her ex she was still in love with?

"Different shades," Callie continued, "Yours have more warmth in them, and hers were the color of ice. But when I squint slightly they look the same."

Arizona felt extremely uncomfortable and slightly pissed off with the way Callie was talking. She didn't want to hear this kind of thing; this goddess talking about another woman like she was the Queen of the Earth. She made to stand up but Callie placed a hand on her leg and moved slightly closer.

"You're a beautiful woman Arizona," Callie whispered and Arizona couldn't help the butterflies that stirred in her stomach at those words. "I thought that from the moment I met you in that dirty bar, when you tried hitting on me. I wasn't in the right state of mind then, but I am now."

Arizona was transfixed with the woman in front of her. She was trying to stay angry but she felt herself getting lost in those dark brown eyes and all thoughts of Erica disappeared from her mind as Callie inched closer. God, she wanted this woman _so _badly. The tension between them was as thick as butter and Arizona found herself holding her breath as Callie continued to come closer.

"Are-are you sure?" Arizona whispered as Callie was mere inches away from her now. "Last week you asked me not to kiss you. What's changed?"

Callie didn't answer. She licked her lips and made to close the few inches between them when Arizona saw her squint her eyes. She jumped up immediately with her back against the wall, leaving a thoroughly confused Callie at her feet.

"That's nice Callie, real nice" Arizona spat as she felt hurt and anger surge through her. "Nothing's changed has it? You just figured out that when you squint I look like your ex-girlfriend."

Callie stood up quickly and placed her hands either side of Arizona's shoulders so she couldn't move.

"I'm sorry; I didn't realize I was doing that. I meant what I said Arizona, you're beautiful and I want you. I do."

Arizona felt her will beginning to fade again as she stared into her eyes but shook her head to snap herself out of it.

"So now you want to use manipulation tactics? I dated a woman like that once and I never want to do it again," Arizona said, trying to keep her voice from wobbling. "I thought you were different, I really did."

Callie frowned slightly.

"Who said anything about dating? You hit on me in a _bar; _I figured you were only in this for the sex."

"I-I am."

"Then what's the problem?"

Arizona opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to think of a reply. There wasn't a problem; this was all she wanted. She would win the bet, she would sleep with the hot new surgeon and they would both be on their way. Yet, this felt so wrong. The situation, the words, everything.

"I don't want to sleep with you," Arizona finally said. "I don't feel that way towards you; you're purely a friend in my eyes."

"What a load of crap," Callie said and Arizona frowned at her. "If you hadn't been making fuck me eyes at me since I arrived maybe I would believe you."

"I'm not going to pretend to be Erica for you!"

"I'm not asking you to!"

"I just-I just…" Arizona stuttered, "Need time to think about this."

Callie nodded and dropped her hands to her sides, picking up the ice that she had dropped to the ground and handing it back to Arizona.

"That's okay," she said. "Are you coming to Addison's tonight? She's hosting the after party."

Arizona nodded.

"Yeah, but I think I need more time than that."

"That was the friend part of me asking, not the ridiculously horny woman side," Callie said with a smile. "We are still friends right?"

"Of course," Arizona replied and smiled weakly. She thanked Callie for her help and made her way out of the changing room and back towards the field. She needed to clear her head and vent her thoughts to someone. She eventually reached the field and searched for Teddy, spotting her standing in the outfield. She made her way hastily over to her and grabbed her arm, dragging her off to the side.

"Oh hey!" Teddy said. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Arizona said quickly. "Listen, Teds, I need to tell you something." She recited the entire scene that had just happened and watched as Teddy began to frown slightly, before she burst into laughter.

"Arizona, this is exactly what you wanted!" Teddy said, looking at her like she was crazy. "Sex with no strings attached, I don't see the problem?"

"I-I guess so," Arizona said slowly and Teddy frowned again.

"Wait, do you like her? Like, as in more than a fuck buddy?"

"No!" Arizona said a little too quickly. "I'm not looking for a relationship with her, just sex. Sex is all I want."

"Then go for it! Tonight at the party, it's a perfect opportunity."

Arizona nodded slowly and watched as Callie returned to the field. She took a seat on the bench and the team cheered as their number one batter had returned. This was it; she was finally going to get what she wanted. Sex. That was all she wanted, right?

**A/N: So, a slight twist in the tale! Please let me know what you think, reviews motivate me!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Can I borrow your mascara?"

"Yeah sure, be careful though it's pretty clumpy."

Arizona and Teddy were standing in the bathroom doing their makeup together, trying their best to look drop dead gorgeous for the party. Arizona had decided to wear a dark blue dress that stopped just above her knee, showing off her toned legs. The cut of it made her boobs look extremely impressive and she knew she looked good. Her wrist was extremely swollen and purple; she couldn't even cover it with bracelets as it hurt too much to push them on. Teddy had gone for a short red dress with matching lipstick and her hair straightened. Arizona opened her mouth slightly as she applied the mascara, careful not to smudge it. She checked herself in the mirror before turning to a grinning Teddy.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"If I were gay, I would take you to my bed right now," Teddy replied as she picked up her purse.

"If you were gay, I would let you. You look awesome," Arizona replied with a wink and Teddy laughed as they exited the bathroom together. Alex had yelled at them to hurry up half an hour ago before giving up and slouching on the couch with a beer to watch reruns of the basketball. He noticed them walking out from the room and let out an exaggerated sigh as he stood up.

"About time, you two took-" He stopped talking as he registered how hot the two woman in front of him looked, quickly putting his hands into his pockets.

"You guys look great," he mumbled and turned away from them to hide the lump that had appeared in his pants, grabbing his keys and hastily walking out the door. Teddy raised her eyebrow at Arizona and they tried not to laugh as they followed him into his car. Arizona sat in the front seat next to an unusually silent Alex and smirked to herself. _Time to have some fun._

"You look really good too Alex," she said smiling flirtatiously. He was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt, basically what he wore every day when he wasn't in scrubs.

"Teddy and I were thinking," she continued, twirling her finger around the gearstick, "that we want to try something different and we were wondering if you were interested?" Alex raised an eyebrow at her as his eyes flicked down to Arizona's fingers which were now stroking the gear stick.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked gruffly. Teddy had caught onto Arizona's drift now and sat forward so her head was peeking between the two front seats.

"We're both feeling _adventurous_," Teddy said, emphasizing the last word and smiling as Alex blushed slightly. "And we were wondering if you would be _adventurous _with us."

"What would I be doing?"

"Well," Arizona said as she leant closer to Teddy. "Theodora here wanted to experience the touch of a woman _and _a man at the same time. I volunteered to be the woman but we still need a guy who could handle both of us."

Alex's eyes darted from Teddy to Arizona, looking for one of them to crack a smile. But both women's faces remained straight as they looked seductively at him.

"You guys are just pulling my chain, aren't you?" he said lowly, his voice cracking slightly as he continued staring at them. Teddy shook her head slowly as Arizona rested her head on her shoulder.

"If you're not up to it, we can always ask Jackso-"

"No!" Alex yelled. "I'm in, I'm _so _in. When? After the party? Or should we go back to the apartment now or…" his voice trailed off as the two women burst into laughter. He growled and turned the car on, slamming his foot down onto the accelerator and speeding down the street. Arizona wasn't even bothered by how fast he was going she was laughing so hard and she could hear Teddy clapping in the backseat.

"You-you-you really thought-" Teddy choked out before a fresh wave of laughter racked through her body.

"You two are bitches, you know that?" Alex growled, taking a corner at alarming speed. "That's the last time I compliment either one of you."

"Oh, don't be like that!" Arizona said, wiping her eyes and praying her eye make-up hadn't smudged. Alex grunted and didn't talk all the way to Addison's house. Exiting the car immediately, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked through the front door. Arizona and Teddy followed suit, still chuckling to themselves as they entered the party.

Addison's house was huge; two stories tall with marble floors and stunning views over Seattle. The music was reverberating loudly and there were at least 150 people there already. Considering there were only 30 people who actually participated in the game that afternoon, Arizona assumed word had gone around the hospital that a raging party was being thrown at Addison's. A group of nurses she had never seen before walked in behind them and Arizona figured they had better move from the doorway; it looked like there was going to be a lot of foot traffic coming through tonight. She pulled Teddy over to a table groaning under the weight of bottles of alcohol. They poured themselves a glass of wine each and turned around to survey the party. They had arrived slightly late and so things were already in full swing. Derek and Meredith were making out in the corner, Stark was talking to a thoroughly bored looking Bailey and Alex was avoiding their eye and talking to Avery with a scowl still on his face.

"Hold my drink, I need to pee," Teddy shouted in her ear and Arizona nodded. She thought about searching for April or Cristina while she waited but felt a tap on her shoulder before she could decide. She turned around to come face to face with Nurse Tia and had to stop herself from outwardly groaning.

She had slept with Nurse Tia a few weeks after her bitch ex had left Seattle. She was simply trying to dull the pain she felt in her heart with a night of passion, but Tia had other ideas. She insisted on eating lunch with Arizona and her friends, texting Arizona every second of the day and implying that they were a couple. Arizona felt too uncomfortable to tell her otherwise, until Tia had stormed up to her in the middle of Joe's when she was hitting on someone and screamed at her for being unfaithful. They hadn't talked since that night, over a year ago now, yet here she was.

"Hey," Tia said and smiled nervously. "I saw you were alone and thought I'd come over and say hello."

"Oh, uh, great" Arizona said, looking around for one of her friends to help her out but they were all too far away. Damn Addison and her massive house.

"Also, I wanted to apologize," Tia continued and now she had Arizona's full attention. "I know we haven't talked in a while but I just wanted to say I'm truly sorry for the way I acted when we were dating."

Arizona chose not to correct her last statement and smiled at her instead. Tia took a long drink of what looked like Vodka and lemonade and Arizona guessed that wasn't her first. Her face was slightly flushed and her eyes drifted in and out of focus.

"I really liked you Arizona. But I'm with someone now and I'm happy and I hope you are too," she continued, swirling the ice in her drink.

"That-that's good news, Tia" Arizona said and forced a smile onto her face.

"But if you ever wanted to go for round two-" Tia began before Arizona made a noise in her throat and cut her off.

"No, no. You just stay with your girlfriend, I'm sure she's lovely."

"What? I'm not gay."

Arizona looked at her bewilderedly as Tia looked just as confused. They stared at each other in awkward silence for a few moments before Tia burst out laughing and patted Arizona's shoulder. She felt incredibly grateful when Tia's drunken friends screamed her name and she went running back over to them with an unopened bottle of tequila. Arizona turned back to the table and refilled her glass, feeling extremely confused but pleased she had dealt with it the way she had.

"Are you and Tia friends?" a familiar voice said behind her and she felt her heartbeat pick up a few paces as she turned with a real smile on her face. A smile that dropped into an 'o' shape when she saw what Callie was wearing. A tight red dress that glossed over her curves deliciously, making her breasts pop. Her hair hung in loose curls down her back and she had on black heels that made her toned legs look even longer than usual. Arizona wanted to take her right then and there as she felt her body react immediately to the sight in front of her. Instead she gulped and tried to focus on her face.

"Uh, hey Callie. I-um- we're not. We met once… briefly."

Callie raised an eyebrow at the babbling blonde and suppressed a smile.

"Briefly as in in your bed after a night at Joe's?"

Arizona felt her stomach sink slightly as Callie tutted in mock disapproval.

"How do you-?"

"Tia's an ortho nurse, she thinks _very _highly of you Dr Robbins. She asked me the other day if I could talk to you for her about getting back together."

"We were never together," Arizona said quickly. "She was…confused about the situation. It was just a one night thing."

"Mhmm," Callie said thoughtfully, sipping at her drink. "Just like Nurse Rachel, Maria, Stacie, Carly, Alice, Jasmine… I could go on."

"H-How did you find all that out?"

"Seriously? That hospital is a constant swirling gossip mill."

Arizona felt a little sick as Callie discussed her dirty track record. She hadn't realized so many people knew about this, never mind actual _names_. She felt slightly embarrassed as the brunette looked at her with a small smirk on her face.

"Was that what you were planning for me Arizona?" she asked, her voice dropping to a low sexy level. "Because I promise you, one night with me and you would keep coming back. I'd be in your head _all _day and in the end you would give in and beg me to make you come again and again and again…" Callie trailed off, grinning at how dark Arizona's eyes had now become. Arizona felt her mouth become extremely dry. She was pretty sure her underwear was soaked and she would _definitely _need to go to the bathroom to freshen up. Or let Callie take her right now. The latter being preferable.

"I-I-I," was all she managed to stutter before Callie leaned in close, her lips inches away from her ear as she whispered.

"But then again, this is my third drink so maybe that's why I feel so confident right now. You said you needed time to think, even though it sounds like you usually act on instinct when it comes to sex. You look amazing tonight, Arizona."

With that she pulled back, smiling seductively at Arizona before walking over to where Mark was standing and struck up a conversation with him. Arizona stood rooted to the spot unable to process what had just happened. That was so, _so _hot. She didn't need to think anymore, she wanted Callie _now_. She didn't care who she wanted her to pretend to be, she'd be anything Callie wanted her to be. She threw back the rest of her drink when Teddy came striding up to her, a hassled look on her face.

"I just got so lost! This house is fucking huge, come on, let's get drunk."

"Um, not now Teddy, I've got something to do."

"What? No! You said tonight we were going to have fun and get drunk _together_. Don't be a party popper; you _always _ditch me to go chat up random woman."

"No, you don't understand, this one's important."

"Yeah, yeah, they always are."

Teddy huffed and made to walk over to where Cristina and Meredith were now talking. Arizona reached out and grabbed her arm, tugging her back by her side and rolling her eyes.

"Fine! I'm sorry I'm such a terrible friend; I'll go find that person later. Come on, I'm going to drink you under the table."

Teddy's eyes lit up and an excited smile stretched across her face.

"Yay! You're a hopeless drinker Az, don't make promises you can't keep. Let's line up some shots."

Teddy walked down the table to where the bottle of Vodka was and began pouring it into some glasses. Arizona glanced back at Callie one more time before sighing heavily and walking over to her squealing friend.

* * *

"Did you see him? Arizona? ARIZONA!" Teddy yelled and Arizona nearly fell of the bar seat. She was quite drunk, Teddy had forced her into drinking shot after shot and she knew she would pay for it in the morning. Her mind was unfocused and she couldn't stop staring at Callie, she looked _gorgeous_. She had managed to catch her eye a few times and Callie would smile before resuming the conversation with whoever she was talking to.

"See who?"

"Henry! Over there, by the speakers. He's hot right? God, he's really hot."

"Yeah, she is," Arizona replied, still staring at Callie.

"Should I go over? I'm gonna go over. Wait, should I? Yes. No. Yes!"

Teddy stood up and walked in a zigzag over to where Henry was standing. A grin spread across his face as he saw Teddy approach, his eyes looking her up and down quickly and they fell into conversation. Arizona immediately stood from her stool, swaying slightly and made her way over to Callie, who was talking to Bailey. She cleared her throat as she approached, getting a glare from Bailey who was mid-sentence.

"Dr Robbins," she said in her authoritive tone. "Is there something we can help you with?"

"Yes. I mean, not you but Dr Torres can. May I borrow her for a moment?"

Arizona grabbed Callie's hand before Bailey could reply and nearly dragged her upstairs. It was quieter up there, only a few drunken people staggering around but bottles lay everywhere. Nobody even look at the two women as they passed.

"Where's the spare bedroom?" Arizona panted. Callie didn't reply but walked a bit faster so now she was ahead of Arizona. They got to the last door in the hallway and Callie shoved it open pulling Arizona in before shutting the door and locking it. She pushed Arizona against the wall with her body and Arizona let out a gasp as Callie's face was inches from hers.

"You finally came to your senses," she breathed. Arizona groaned as Callie's hands wrapped around her hips and pulled them into her own.

"Yeah," Arizona said breathlessly, moaning loudly as Callie kissed her neck. She tilted her head to the side to give her better access, legs wobbling from the mix of alcohol and sheer arousal.

"With a little bit of help from my friend Vodka," she continued, fisting her hand in Callie's hair and closing her eyes as Callie worked wonders on her neck. She moaned grumpily when Callie pulled away and looked at her.

"How much alcohol have you had?"

"A little."

"How much?"

"About a quarter of a bottle of Vodka," Arizona giggled as she leant forward to capture those lips in her own, but Callie pulled back.

"I didn't really plan on you being this drunk," she said slowly. "Isn't this like, taking advantage or something?"

Arizona frowned and shook her head quickly.

"No, no, no. I want this. Like _really _want this. I've wanted this since the first moment I laid eyes on you; you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever met."

Callie smiled sweetly and brought her hand up to cup Arizona's face as she leant in. And finally, _finally_, their lips met. Arizona felt like fireworks were going off in her body as they kissed passionately, tongues running over each other slowly, like they had done this a million times. A moan from the back of Callie's throat seemed to travel right to her core and Arizona began kissing her harder, tongues now dueling as both women's want grew. Arizona placed her hand on Callie's hips and walked her backwards quickly towards the bed, her hands never leaving those delicious curves as they fell onto the mattress. Everything was going perfectly, until Arizona remembered her damaged wrist too late.

Her injured hand was now under Callie's back and the weight of both of their bodies falling on it caused her to pull away from those full lips and yell out in pain. Callie looked at her confused before realization struck her and she sat up quickly, releasing the trapped hand. Arizona grabbed it with her other hand as tears sprung into her eyes and she gritted her teeth against the pain.

"Oh my God, I'm so, so, so sorry Arizona!" Callie said as she jumped up from the bed. "I'll go get you some ice."

"No, wait," Arizona said, willing her brain to ignore the massive amount of pain she was in. "I'm-I'm fine. Come back here, ignore the hand."

Callie shook her head and walked towards the door.

"Don't be stupid Arizona. You need to ice it. Maybe it's for the best anyway… I don't know."

Arizona couldn't believe she had just heard that. Their chemistry was undeniable, she had basically begged her to come and have sex with her and now she was saying it was best if they didn't? Arizona gritted her teeth in frustration as she spoke.

"What do you mean a sign? This whole hot and cold act you're playing with me, it's not funny anymore Callie. One minute you're basically begging me to fuck you and the next you're saying we shouldn't do this? What the hell's going on?"

"It's complicated, Arizona. This whole Erica thing-"

"No!" Arizona nearly shouted. "No! You're seriously not bringing her up again!?"

"You don't understand!"

"Obviously not since you always want to talk about her whenever we have a moment. Is the thought of her some kind of fucking aphrodisiac for you or something?"

"What!? No! And even if she was, it's none of your business; I know I'm just going to be another notch on your bedpost anyway so why do you care so much?"

Arizona gaped at her, feeling hurt at her words. Callie's face immediately dropped as she realized what she had said.

"I didn't mean that," Callie said quietly as she tried to walk towards Arizona but she stepped away from her.

"No, you're right. I'm just some massive slut out to screw all of Seattle. You should leave."

"I'll go get you some ice."

"No, just go."

Callie looked at her sadly but Arizona avoided her eye and stared at the wall. Eventually, she heard a sigh and the door opening and closing."

As soon as the door shut Arizona let out a groan of frustration and fell backwards onto the bed. Her head was a mess. She was angry that Callie had basically called her a slut, but then again it seemed like the entire hospital staff thought the same way. She liked sleeping with woman; she didn't care what the other doctor's opinions of her were. But she _did _care about what Callie thought of her. Why? Why did she care too much?

Realization slowly crept into her brain and she laughed at how stupid she had been. She liked her. She had a crush on Callie Torres. It wasn't just sexual to her anymore; she wanted the woman all to herself. That's why she felt so insanely jealous whenever Erica was brought up. Because Erica had already had Callie and Arizona hadn't and that made her angry.

Arizona sat up, clutching her throbbing wrist. She hadn't felt this way since Joanne, the ex-Neonatal surgeon that had broken her heart into a million pieces in the worst possible way. Did she really want to give herself to someone like that again just to be thrown back into that dark pit of depression when it turned sour? Screwing woman and sneaking out the next morning was easier, no feelings, no talking just pure sexual satisfaction. But she didn't want to sneak out of Callie's bed, she wanted to cuddle and talk and have amazing morning sex. This was all so complicated. The throbbing in her wrist wasn't helping her thought processes so she stood up and made her way to the door. She would get some ice then track Callie down and they could talk and try to work something out. She was going to turn over a new leaf.

Arizona walked down the hallway and made it to the stairs, feeling a hell of a lot better now that she had figured out her feelings. She saw Teddy making out with Henry in the corner and decided she would tell her about her realization in the morning. Alex was talking to Meredith and Cristina by the drinks table, holding a glass of water as he had work early in the morning and couldn't afford to be hung over. Arizona made her way through the rest of the crowd stopping dead in the kitchen doorway when she saw a sight that made her want to be sick.

Mark had Callie pinned against the wall and they were kissing furiously, his hands cupping her face. She held a bag of frozen peas in her hand, the other one held against his chest but not pushing him away. Arizona felt like the world had gone completely silent as she watched the scene in front of her. This was wrong, this was _all _wrong. Callie with someone else, Callie with a _Mark Sloan_. Mark let out a moan and Callie suddenly pushed him back, seemingly coming to her senses.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "We're just friends, Mark."

"No, Callie, I don't think you are," Arizona spat and Callie whirled around, fear crossing her features as she saw the upset blond in the doorway. Arizona spun around and stalked over to where Alex was standing, fighting to hold back the tears that filled her eyes. He saw her approaching and shook his head violently.

"You had your fun Robbins; you don't have to rub it in any further okay?"

"Alex, can you please take me home? Right now?"

Alex saw the tears that were threatening to spill out of his friend's eyes and the scowl on his face dropped immediately to be replaced by one of concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked sincerely.

"Fine. Can we just go?"

He nodded and said goodbye to Cristina and Meredith who were looking at her with confused expressions. Arizona turned and began walking to the door, not slowing down when she heard Callie calling out her name.

"Arizona! Wait, it's not what it looks like!" Callie said, reaching forward and grabbing her uninjured hand. Arizona pulled her arm violently away and spun around.

"It looked like you were mashing faces with that disgusting asshole! You know my history with him, how could you!" Arizona shouted, tears now spilling out of her eyes. Callie face held a panicked expression as she watched the visibly upset blond.

"I can explain this," she said quickly but then Mark came sauntering through the crowd, a smirk plastered across his drunken face.

"Looks like I win again, Robbins" he said with a sneer and Arizona didn't even try to fight back. He was right and they both knew it. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as Alex walked forward and grabbed Mark by the scruff of his shirt.

"I don't know what you've done this time Sloan," he hissed, "but talk to my friend like that again and I'll kick the crap out of you."

Mark pulled his shirt out of Alex's grasp and smirked but didn't speak. Arizona turned and walked out the door, arms huddled against the chilly night air. Callie made to follow her but Alex placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

"Leave it," he said. "I don't think she wants to talk to you right now, you'll only make things worse if you do."

Callie stared out the door after the blonde's retreating back but didn't move any further forward. Alex shook his head sadly and followed Arizona's to his car, shutting the door quietly behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Just thought I would put a quick note in about the story. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it and the reviews are amazing. I was pleased to see a few people talking about Arizona/Callie having unlikable traits about them and I'm glad some of you feel this way because it's how I intentionally wrote them. I love Calzona, they're my OTP, but I feel like people put them both on pedestals too much and I just wanted to tell a different story and show their flaws; Arizona with her big ego and selfishness and Callie with her self-doubt and insecurities about her sexuality. These traits have been shown in a drastic (and more over the top way then what we see in the show) way in the past chapters so that we can easily witness the massive character growth they will both experience in the chapters to come. If you're looking for a happy fluffy Calzona fic this is not the place to be, there will be bumps in the road just like any real relationship has. Remember, at this point they've known each other for only two weeks so don't judge their actions too harshly; would you spill all your thoughts and feelings to someone you had known for that short period of time? Be patient, their journey to each other will be more satisfying if you are. Thanks again for the support and enjoy J**

_Callie sighed as she shut the bedroom door, wondering how things had suddenly turned so bad. She hadn't meant to imply that Arizona was a womanizer but the words had just burst out of her from a mindless part of her brain. She knew Arizona was a good person; it was evident in the way her friends and colleagues spoke of her. But there was no denying the fact she didn't exactly have a squeaky clean track record with calling woman after she slept with them._

_Callie trudged down the stairs and rejoined the party. It was now in full swing and the crowd seemed to have become impossibly bigger. Addison's house was huge but it was starting to become crammed from all these bodies and Callie felt slightly claustrophobic. She squeezed her way into the kitchen where only a few people stood and let out a sigh of relief. She knew Arizona was being stubborn when she said she didn't want ice and right now she was probably in a lot of pain. If there was one thing Callie Torres knew, it was bones. She made her way over to the freezer and searched for some ice cubes but there were none to be seen. She remembered seeing a large bucket filled with them on the table by the front door and cursed silently, there was no way she was going that deep into the crowd. She spied a bag of frozen peas and decided they would do, shutting the freezer door and yelping out in fright when Mark's face appeared next to hers._

_"Fuck Mark! Don't sneak up on me like that!"_

_She leant against the wall next to the freezer with her arms crossed, a defensive frown on her face. Mark help up his hands in a sorry gesture and giggled slightly. He was obviously extremely drunk, Mark Sloan never giggled._

_"Sorry Torres," he said, slurring his words together. "You plan on cooking something?" He gestured towards the peas in her hand and she shook her head._

_"No, Arizona hurt her wrist again and this was the best thing I could find for it."_

_"Forget about her," Mark said as he turned to face her. "Why are you even friends with her?"_

_"What? Why wouldn't I be?"_

_"Because she's a fellow and a bit of a bitch-"_

_"Being a fellow isn't a problem to me. And she's not a bitch, only towards you. But given your history I don't blame her…"_

_"-and a slut." Mark finished, ignoring Callie's interruption._

_"Hey!" Callie shouted and Mark jumped slightly. "Don't call her that!"_

_Mark looked bemusedly at her before his face turned to one of shock._

_"You can't be serious, Callie."_

_"What?"_

_"You've got a crush on her."_

_"No I don't. I'm just… looking out for my friend."_

_Mark walked towards her slowly and she laid her back flat against the wall, gripping the peas in her hand in case he tried to take them from her._

_"Women are trouble Cal" he said lowly. "You of all people should know that." Callie felt her heart sink at his words as she pictured Erica's retreating back. Callie had begged her to stay but she chose her career and left without looking back. The picture flashed from her mind to be replaced my Mark's face very close to her own. She was going to kill Addison; she had obviously told him all about Callie's previous romance._

_"Not every woman's the same, some are good," Callie said and Mark nodded._

_"Yeah, some are. Like you for example, you're gorgeous, you have a good heart and you're a rock star at what you do. But Arizona Robbins? She's bad news, Callie. She'll break your heart."_

_"You don't know that," Callie said quietly._

_"Actually, I do. Ask half the nurses in the hospital and they'll tell you the same thing. You're a guy's girl, we both know that. The chemistry between us in undeniable."_

_He was now only centimeters from her face and Callie didn't know what to do. He was so right yet so wrong at the same time and her brain was a drunken confused mess. She had loved men her whole life, but lately she had found herself staring at attractive woman longer than usual. Mark leant in and took her by surprise as their lips met. She immediately put her hand on his chest and pushed him back gently._

_"What are you doing?" she asked, extremely aware that they were in a kitchen surrounded by their colleagues._

_"Helping you decide what you want," he murmured and leant back in to capture her lips. His stubble tickled her chin as they kissed. He lowered his hands and held her face, deepening their kiss but Callie kept hers against his chest. Her mind had gone blank, crossed between shock and confusion until he let out a moan. Arizona had moaned like that when they were kissing and the sound had made her libido go into overdrive. But the moan she had just heard did nothing for her, it didn't excite nor disgust her, it was simply nothing. The scratchy face felt too rough, the hands too big and suddenly she registered what she was doing and pushed him away._

_"What are you doing?" she said again. "We're just friends Mark."_

_"No, Callie, I don't think you are," a voice said and Callie felt her heart sink. She whirled around to see a flash of blonde hair as Arizona ran from the room._

_"Shit, shit, shit," Callie said anxiously. This was not how her night was supposed to end. She made to run after Arizona when Mark grabbed her hand._

_"Callie, wait. We could be something, you don't know what you want but it could be me."_

_"Mark I can't deal with this right now, I need to find her and explain." He let go of her arm dejectedly and she ran from the room and into the dense crowd._

* * *

Alex and Arizona had driven in silence all the way home. He knew she wouldn't want to talk about it right now and figured he would leave that job to Teddy; women were a lot better at these feelings things. Arizona had exited the car the moment they were parked and headed straight to bed. She was tired of over thinking everything, tired of being hurt, and all she wanted to do right now was put her tired body to rest. She crawled under the sheets without removing her clothes or make up and thankfully fell to sleep immediately.

What felt like minutes later, someone was prodding her awake and she grumbled loudly as she rolled over. Teddy was sitting on the other side of her bed, a cup of coffee in her hand.

"I figured you'd need this, how's your head?" Teddy said gently.

"Not as bad as I thought it would be," she replied as she took the coffee from Teddy, thanking her as she blew on it. They sat in silence for a few moments, both deep in thought.

"So, did you sleep with Henry?" Arizona asked innocently. Teddy feigned a look of hurt as she placed her coffee down.

"No! I'm a classy woman. We just made out for a bit then he got my number, said he would call me today," Teddy replied, trying and failing to hide a grin.

"That's awesome Teds; he seemed like a decent guy."

"You didn't even look at him! Your eyes were glued to Callie's ass when I tried to get you to rate him for me!" Teddy began laughing but stopped immediately when she saw the look on her friends face. "I had a feeling it had something to do with her," she sighed.

"What?"

"Cristina and Mer told me that you asked Alex to drive you home last night and you seemed pretty upset about something."

"It's nothing."

"Come on Az, your my best friend and I can tell you're angry about something. It's my job to listen."

Arizona chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought. She didn't want to come off as some clingy woman who got attached too fast to the straight girl, but Teddy was a good advice giver and that was exactly what she needed right now.

"Okay fine. Last night Callie and I… we kissed. Quite a bit. Then I hurt my wrist and she pulled back and got all weird on me."

"Hurt your wrist how?" Teddy asked, eyebrow raised.

"Get your head out of the gutter! We fell back onto it and it got trapped under her back. Trust me, I wish I had hurt it by doing what you're thinking."

Teddy laughed and nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"So, she went all weird saying how maybe it was for the best if we didn't go through with it. Then she basically called me a slut and I told her to get out. I went to find her about five minutes later to talk things out and saw her… saw her kissing Sloan," she finished, fighting to keep her renewed anger from boiling over. Teddy nodded her head thoughtfully and linked her hands together, tapping her forefinger up and down.

"So you're finally admitting that you like her?"

"I mean… I wouldn't say… I'm not sure…"

"Arizona."

"Fine, yes I like her," Arizona huffed. She pulled a face as Teddy smirked and patted her on the knee.

"Look at you all grown up!"

"Oh shut up, this is embarrassing enough as it is. Do you have any advice or are you just going to keep cooing over me and my feelings?"

"Alright you grouch. Has Callie come out to her friends and family?"

"Uh, no… I don't think she's at that stage yet. I mean, she was kissing a man."

"So she's straight?"

"Well… no. Because she kissed me too."

"Mhmm, Mhmm, I see. Has she directly told you that she wants more than sex with you?"

"No…"

"Have you told her you want more than sex with her?"

"Um, no…"

"Right okay, well there's the first problem. You both think that the other is viewing you as a fuck buddy meaning that no boundaries have been put in place so you're both free to kiss whomever you like. You don't really have grounds to be angry about it, she didn't know."

"Well, I guess so…"

"Has she been with a woman before?"

"Yeah, someone named Erica. She always brings her up whenever we have moments where we're about to kiss or something."

"What does she say about her?"

"Well... I don't really know. I usually cut her off or ask her to stop talking about it whenever it happens…"

Arizona blushed as Teddy made a sound of bewilderment.

"Jesus Arizona! You didn't figure she was trying to tell you something? Like, I don't know, that her first time with a woman didn't go well and she's scared? Or that the only other woman she's been with hurt her?"

"Well... I-I didn't think of that. I just kind of got angry that she kept bringing her ex up when I was trying to kiss her. Oh my God, I'm such an idiot."

Arizona covered her eyes in shame as Teddy tutted beside her. Why else would Callie bring Erica up? She obviously had underlying issues with her first lesbian experience and Arizona had been too ignorant to notice. Callie had _told _her there were other reasons she left Hopkins and Arizona had been too self-involved to pay attention properly. She felt like a total _bitch_.

"Would you have been this upset if you saw her kissing someone other than Sloan?" Teddy asked tentatively after a few minutes.

"I would be upset but not as angry. You know the history between Mark and I, it just feels like he's stolen my woman _again_."

Teddy nodded sympathetically and rubbed her shoulder.

"I understand what you're saying," Teddy said, "and I know that it sucks for you. I think you should take some time to cool off, ask the Chief if you can bring all your paperwork home for a few days since you're out of surgery for the week anyway."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks Teds, you're the best."

"Yeah, I know."

Teddy smiled and rose from the bed, grabbing her coffee and beginning to walk out. She stopped in the doorway and turned.

"And before you judge her too harshly for calling you a slut, remember that you were the one who has a bet going with Alex that you could sleep with her within the month."

Teddy looked at her pointedly and walked out the room as Arizona felt guilt creep into her. Teddy was right; she wasn't exactly a saint in this whole situation. But she still felt so mad about the kissing that she figured bringing her work home for a few days and taking time to calm down completely couldn't hurt. She sighed and covered her eyes with the pillow, attempting to block out the sunlight and her worries.

* * *

It had been five days since the party and Arizona was bored out of her mind. She had called the Chief a few hours after her and Teddy's talk and asked if she could bring her case load home, to which he agreed. Alex begrudgingly took over all her surgeries, but didn't complain about it since he still felt guilty for being the one who injured her wrist. Arizona hadn't been expecting to get five days off, she had been hoping for three at the most, but the Chief had insisted she heal properly and being at the hospital would be too tempting for her. So she had spent five days going over new cases and hanging around the house trying to think of things to do. She was due for her first morning shift and she had gotten up at 5AM to get ready even though the shift didn't start until 8AM.

Arizona stood waiting by the door, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Alex who had only gotten out of bed ten minutes ago. They always drove together on their morning shifts since Seattle traffic could get heavy so there was no point waiting in traffic alone. Alex walked out of his room, pulling a shirt on and grabbing a muesli bar out of the pantry for breakfast.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back?" he asked, his mouth full.

"Absolutely, I've been bored out of my mind just sitting around. I feel good, I need to cut."

Alex nodded and grabbed his keys as they walked out the door together. Arizona usually drove them to their morning shift but Alex had volunteered today; she suspected he was still feeling slightly guilty about the whole thing. They entered the car and, in true Alex fashion, sped off at way over the speed limit.

"I need to talk to you about something," Arizona said slowly. She knew what she was about to ask wasn't going to go down well at all. Alex nodded to show he was listening.

"I'm calling off the bet."

Alex turned so sharply towards her that he turned the steering wheel too. She yelled as they entered the other lane and he quickly corrected the car.

"What!? You can't just call a bet off, we shook on it! No, it's still on."

"No, I can't do it anymore Alex. This isn't a normal situation anymore. Things have become… complicated."

"A bets a bet Robbins!"

"I know and I'm willing to accept whatever consequence you give me."

"Okay, that's fine then, set me up on a date with Callie."

"Except that."

"Those were the terms, you can't just change your mind because you're about to lose."

Arizona narrowed her eyes at the seething man next to her. She knew he was right, she would be equally as mad if the roles were reversed. But Callie wasn't a prize for her anymore, she was the real deal.

"Look Alex, I'm sorry but I just can't do it anymore. Pick any other punishment in the world, just not that one."

Alex scowled and stamped down on the accelerator even harder, teeth clenched. They were now going at least 10 miles over the speed limit and she started to feel uncomfortable.

"Alex, slow down," she said cautiously but he ignored her. She hastily pulled her seatbelt on as they were now 15 miles over the limit.

"Alex! Slow the fuck down!" Arizona shouted and he rolled his eyes but took his foot off the pedal to let the car gradually slow down by itself. They rounded a corner and suddenly there was a line of stand still traffic in front of them. Alex slammed on the brakes and the car screeched on the road, tires working overtime to try to stop the vehicle, but it was never going to be enough and they crashed into the car in front of them while they were still going 20mph. The force of impact made Arizona lurch forward and smack her head hard against the dashboard, her seatbelt saving her from going through the windshield. The car came to a stop and everything grew quiet. Arizona sat up slowly and rubbed her neck, feeling the effects of whiplash. She had a few cuts over her arms where glass had shattered and could feel blood trickling down her face, but otherwise was alright.

"Holy shit, Alex are you alrig-ALEX" Arizona screamed as she saw her friend. He hadn't been wearing a seatbelt and the force had propelled him forward into the windshield. It hadn't shattered but had a giant crack where his head must of hit. He was unconscious, bleeding profusely from a large cut on his skull and Arizona felt dread fill her as she knew he would have a brain bleed. His arm was twisted in a horrible direction and he was covered in cuts from the shattered side window. Arizona unbuckled her seatbelt hastily and leant across, placing her fingers on his pulse point, nearly fainting with relief when she felt it. It was weak, but it was there. The driver of the car in front got out of his door, swearing and yelling at his ruined car. He came storming up to Alex's window ready to give him an earful when he saw the two injured passengers and his mouth dropped open.

"Call the ambulance!" Arizona yelled. "Seattle Grace Mercy West; call them! Now!"

The man hastily pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed 911, speaking hurriedly as Arizona felt for any more bone damage on Alex. Adrenaline surged through her and her hands shook as she felt his dislocated shoulder.

"It's okay Alex," Arizona said, trying to keep her voice steady as she continued her inspection. "You're going to be just fine. We'll get you to the hospital where the best surgeons in the world are going to fix you up. Callie and Derek, they'll take care of you. You're going to be just fine, just hold on…"


	8. Chapter 8

Callie leant against the nurses' station, tapping her pen absentmindedly against the desk and trying not to yawn. She had come in at 5AM to catch up on some paperwork before her first surgery, a task that took a lot less time than originally thought so now she had half an hour to spare. Addison came walking down the hallway, two cups of coffee in her hand and held one out to her.

"Addison Montgomery, you are a saint, you know that?" Callie said as she took the drink on offer.

"I've been told," Addison replied, taking a sip and closing her eyes as the hot liquid flowed down her throat. "You got any surgeries soon?" Callie nodded.

"Yeah, hip replacement in half an hour. It's going to be a pretty slow day for me."

"You never say it's going to be a slow day!" Addison nearly shouted, receiving a glare from a nearby nurse. Callie shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.

"It's a day and it's slow. I'd welcome anything through those doors right about now."

Addison shook her head at her friend's brashness.

"You'll regret those words, Torres. Has Mark been hassling you since our talk?"

Callie shook her head and sent her friend a grateful smile. Addison had heard her scrub nurse gossiping in the OR the day after the party that Doctors Sloan and Torres were an item. Confused, she investigated the matter further and discovered that a highly intoxicated Mark had kissed Callie, who pushed him off. Addison was furious and had stormed around the hospital looking for Mark. She had dragged him to Callie's office and forced him to apologize and explain himself. Mark had stared at his feet the entire time, trying to hide his red face as Addison stood guard by the door. His apology had been sincere though, and they decided they would continue being friends; something Callie was quite relieved about since she had yet to make many.

"Yeah, he's been great," Callie said. "We worked on a patient together the other day and it wasn't awkward or anything."

"That's great," Addison responded before her pager went off. She glanced down at it and groaned. "Dammit, I was really looking forward to finishing this coffee. See you later Cal, a baby with a fat head is calling me."

Callie laughed and waved to Addison as she dashed down the hall and into the elevators. She resumed the position she had been in before, trying to think of ways to kill her time. Her mind drifted back to the party, like it had done all week during idle times, and in particular to a certain peds surgeon. She hadn't seen Arizona all week and it bugged her. They really needed to talk; she had so many things she wanted to say and had actively been seeking out the blond all week. After a bit of snooping around, she found out Arizona had taken a few days off to let her wrist heal properly. That in itself was strange, Arizona was such a workaholic and she was always at the hospital even when she wasn't scheduled to be there.

Her pager started beeping like crazy, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked down at it and saw there were 6 different pages of 911 to the same room in the ER. _That's strange,_ Callie thought as she jogged to the lifts. Usually she only received one or two pages per patient; there was a system for this kind of thing. Her pager went off again as she entered the lift and she frowned as three more pages came in, something serious was going on. The doors opened onto the ground floor and Callie ran to the ER, skidding to a stop when she noticed a crowd standing outside the room she had been paged to. The waiting patients were craning their necks trying to catch a glimpse of who all the fuss was about. Was it a celebrity?

"Move!" Callie said loudly as she began making her way through the crowd. "I was paged here, please move!"

She eventually made it into the trauma room and her heart sunk at the sight before her. Alex lay on the bed, unconscious and in extremely bad shape. Derek was inspecting a nasty gash on his skull, yelling at a nurse to book an OR. Cristina had her stethoscope placed over his heart, her eyes closed as she listened to his rhythm. Owen was checking the rest of his body for trauma injuries and Bailey was feeling his abdomen. The room was chaos, nurses running back and forth and doctors yelling their opinions at each other. Callie rolled up her sleeves and made her way towards his left arm which looked like a gummy worm.

"Ah, Dr Torres," Owen said as she began feeling for broken bones. "I did a rough ortho consult and the rest of his body appears to be fine in terms of bones. His left arm is a mess though."

Callie nodded as she felt his shattered bones.

"What happened?" she yelled.

"Car crash. We think he stuck his left arm out to protect himself and so that received a lot of the impact," Owen replied

"I can tell. Dislocated shoulder, broken ulna and fractured humorous. I'll have to work alongside Dr Shepherd to get this bleeding under control. Otherwise, this should be an easy fix."

"Cardio, clear!" Cristina shouted. "Slightly elevated heart sounds but that will be due to the loss of blood. His rhythm is otherwise fine."

"Trauma, clear!" Owen shouted as he ripped off his gloves.

"General, clear!" Bailey said through gritted teeth and pointed her finger at him. "You got lucky Karev; you better survive this surgery so _I _can kill you personally. I did _not _put all that time into raising you for you to die just as you got good."

"Looks like it's me and you, Torres" Derek said as he kicked the brakes of the gurney. "We need to get to an OR, stat! Everyone MOVE!"

The room immediately cleared of bodies except for one, who sat in the chair in the corner with her head in her hands. Callie felt an extreme wave of sadness crash over her as she watched silent tears creep through Arizona's fingers. She suddenly forgot where she was as she stared at the peds surgeon, wanting nothing more than to go over and give her a reassuring hug. She could see a nasty cut on her forehead and her arms were covered in scratches but she appeared otherwise unhurt.

"Torres!" Derek's voice cut through her thoughts and she saw he was already out of the doorway. She nodded and followed him out, keeping her eyes set firmly ahead of her and trying to focus on the job at hand rather than the sobbing blond in the room behind her. She stopped quickly next to Bailey who had tears in her eyes and bent down.

"Dr Robbins is in that room, can you please do a quick consult on her? She may have suffered internal injuries that she won't feel yet due to the adrenaline."

Bailey sniffed and nodded, taking a deep breath before putting her Nazi face on and striding back into the trauma room. Callie ran to catch up with the gurney, feeling a lot more focused now she knew Arizona wasn't alone. This was a patient she couldn't afford to lose.

* * *

Arizona sat in the viewing gallery and watched as Derek and Callie worked. The gallery was packed, people craning their necks at the door just to see in. Alex was one of the SGMW family and _no one _wanted to see their family die. The surgery had been going for four hours now but not a single person had moved. Non urgent pages were ignored and the hospital halls were extremely quiet for a Thursday morning. Bailey had come in to the trauma room to do a consult on Arizona's injuries and she had passed. She had offered to stitch up her cuts but Arizona wouldn't let her, knowing that Bailey (along with herself) wanted to get to the viewing gallery immediately. Two nurses had given up their seats for them once they entered and they hadn't moved since.

The machines suddenly began beeping like crazy and Arizona sat bolt upright. She heard Derek curse through the intercom as he demanded Lexie for more suction. People began to murmur in the gallery as the beeping increased.

"Come on Derek," Arizona whispered and she saw Bailey praying out of the corner of her eye. His hands were blurred as he worked to neutralize the bleeder and Callie even stopped what she was doing to watch. The machines finally stopped beeping and a collective sigh of relief was breathed in the gallery. Callie looked up at Derek and met his eye as he shook his head slightly. Arizona leant back in her chair, feeling dizzy as her heart thumped loudly in his chest.

"Oh my God that was close," she said and sent a weak smile at Bailey, who smacked her on the arm.

"Don't take the Lord's name in vain," Bailey snapped, though Arizona could see she was trying not to smile.

The next hour was rather uneventful as the surgery wore on, Derek and Callie working in silence as they slowly put Alex back together. Arizona gazed around the gallery at the fellow staff, all of whom looked weary but pleased. Cristina was holding hands with Owen, her head leaning on Meredith's shoulder who was on her other side. George and Izzy were sleeping with their heads resting against each other; they were both residents and had probably been working since yesterday. Sloan was in a deep conversation with the Chief and Addison, concerned looks on their faces. April and Jackson were playing cards on the floor near Bailey, who was texting. Teddy suddenly came sprinting into the gallery, accidently kicking the pile of cards over. April and Jackson made sounds of annoyance but Teddy barely looked at them.

"Oh my God, oh my God, what happened!? I've been in surgery all this time and I only just found out! Is he okay? Is he stable? SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!?"

Arizona quickly got out of her seat and placed a hand on her friends shoulder.

"Teds, calm down. We were in a car accident. Alex got beat up pretty bad but Callie and Derek have been amazing, there's hardly been any complications."

Teddy nearly let out a cry of relief before she slumped into Arizona's vacant seat and covered her eyes.

"He was speeding wasn't he?" she growled.

"Well, I said something that kinda pissed him off and so in his anger he stamped his foot down and…"

Arizona became aware of the entire room listening to her and she stopped. Mark sent a dirty look her way and she ignored him.

"But what about you?" Teddy said, oblivious to their audience. "You're covered in cuts; some of those will need stitching up."

"I'll get it sorted once I know he's out of the woods."

Teddy nodded and patted her lap, indicating for Arizona to sit on it. She complied and Teddy wrapped her arms around her middle, linking hands. They rested their heads together as they watched their best friend be poked and prodded with scalpels, not being able to stop the silent tears that slid down their cheeks.

"He always seems to get the worst luck," Teddy whispered and Arizona nodded. Alex had had a hard start to life. His father had run off when he was young and his mother had been unfit to look after him so he had been sent into foster care with his brothers and sister. He was constantly getting into trouble with the cops and had been on the brink of getting sent to juvenile detention before his eldest brother died in a hit and run. He was forced to be the grown up out of his siblings and realized that what he did was a big influence on how they behaved, so he knuckled down and began working hard. He chose to be a pediatric surgeon so he could save kids like his brother, who were just trying their best to make it in the world.

Callie let out a stretch and handed her instruments back to the scrub nurse. She leant over and felt Alex's new arm, checking that everything was in place and holding. She nodded satisfied before declaring she was finished. The entire gallery got to their feet and applauded and Callie looked up, stunned. She gave them a nervous thumbs up before pulling off her gloves and heading to scrub out. Arizona let out a breath and turned to hug Teddy.

"You should go see her," Teddy said. "She's been asking around the hospital for you all week, I think she wants to talk. I'll text you if anything interesting happens here, but it's not going too. It looks like Derek only has an hour or so to go anyway."

Arizona hesitated then nodded, making her way through the crowd and out into the hallway. She descended the steps to the OR floor and looked through the glass into the scrub room to find it empty. Frowning, she turned to look down the hallway and saw a flash of brown hair turning into an on call room. She walked up to the closed door and pressed her ear to it, hearing a quiet sobbing coming from the inside.

Arizona opened the door gently and walked in, seeing Callie with her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking. She reached behind her and locked the door before walking over and sitting next to Callie. Callie looked up to see who it was before resuming her crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Arizona said gently, rubbing in between the crying woman's shoulder blades. Callie took a few moments to catch her breath before looking up with blurry eyes.

"He almost _died _in there, Arizona!"

"No he didn't, Derek had it under control."

"Only just. You couldn't see the brain bleed like I could, it was bad. Derek got extremely lucky and he knew it."

"Well… he's okay now that's all that counts."

"God, I don't think I've been that nervous in my life. I'm just the new girl, you know? And I had to put one of Seattle Grace's own _surgeons _back together. What if I messed up? What if he can never operate again?"

"You didn't mess up, you were awesome in there."

"We won't know until he wakes up. If this goes wrong, everyone will blame me. I haven't had time to make many friends yet and if I'm personally responsible for being unable to fix him…"

Callie trailed off and put her head back into her hands. Arizona smiled sympathetically but stayed silent as she continued to rub her back.

"That's what I want right now," Callie continued after a few moments. "I need a friend, Arizona."

She looked up and met Arizona's eyes and she knew this statement was deeper than it sounded. She wanted Arizona to be her friend, not her girlfriend, her friend.

"Well, I can be your friend," she said quietly, hating the words that came out of her mouth. "I mean, I could be more than that… if you wanted…"

Callie shook her head and Arizona felt her heart sink.

"I'm-I'm sorry but right now I just…can't. I know the things I've said to you have implied it but right now… right now I don't want people gossiping about me. I want to settle into things here before I look for any sort of relationship. I want to be seen as one of you, not the outsider that's stirring the rumor mill. I've only been here a few weeks and already I've been a part of two dramas between you Mark and I. I just need a friend right now, I'll understand if you don't want that to be you."

Arizona shook her head instantly.

"Don't talk that way Calliope, of course I want to be friends with you. If it means I get to be around you… I mean, feel free to sit with us at lunch and I can introduce you to everyone. They're all really friendly. Well, Cristina takes some getting used too but she's pretty fun once you get to know her. No more fights between Sloan and I, okay? I'll stay out of his way."

Callie sniffed and smiled.

"You called me Calliope."

"Isn't that your name?"

"Yeah but… no one but my Dad calls me it."

"Well, as your new friend I feel obliged to be different from your other friends so that's what I'll call you. Plus, I make an awesome friend, you're lucky to have me."

Arizona wiggled her eyebrows and smiled as Callie face broke out into a grin.

"Well, I hope so. But Arizona, at the moment I'm just really…confused. I don't know what I want or like or-"

"Let's not talk about that right now," Arizona interrupted. "We'll focus on the present, which is that you just rocked a surgery that saved my best friends life. Thank you."

"It was my pleasure."

They locked eyes for a few moments before Arizona quickly dropped her gaze. Eye sex with Callie was now a big no-no. She was going to respect this woman's boundaries because that was the only way she would ever get a shot it seemed. Callie was bisexual for sure and there were going to be plenty of people vying for her attention. Arizona had to make sure she stood out from the rest because she knew one thing for sure; she was not letting this woman go. She hadn't felt this strongly about someone since Joanne, so if friendship was what she wanted, she would do it. For the time being anyway, until she became so crazy for the Latina that she couldn't bear another second in her company without tearing her clothes off.

Arizona's phone beeped and she glanced down at it, the smile dropping off her face immediately. Callie noticed the shift in emotion and looked at her questioningly.

"What is it?"

Arizona jumped up from the bed and ran for the door.

"It's Alex," she said as she yanked the handle. "He's crashing."

**A/N: I know this chapter was kinda short but I wanted to get it out there so we can progress with the storyline. Also, I felt like writing since I felt sad about the Sandra Oh news :(**


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